Lincoln City travel to the Memorial Stadium to face Bristol Rovers this weekend. The two sides had mixed starts to the season, though both have at least one win on the board, Rovers will be looking for the three points to propel them up the table.
Bristol Rovers currently sit 17th in League One after five games. The Gas have one win, two draws and two losses leaving them on five points. Only Rovers and Reading are on five points, but due to the seven goals they have conceded, The Gas sit below Reading on goal difference.
Rovers travelled to Portsmouth for their first game of the season. Luke Thomas opened the scoring in the first half, but a Kusini Yengi goal in the 92nd minute levelled for Portsmouth as the game finished 1 - 1. The first home game for Rovers was another 1 - 1 draw this time against Barnsley with a goal from Scott Sinclair for The Gas. Bristol Rovers picked up their first win against Charlton with another goal from Sinclair and a 98th minute goal from Luke McCormick giving Rovers the 2 - 1 win. However, next up was a trip to Cambridge where Fejiri Okenabirhie and Sullay Kaikai gave Cambridge the 2 - 0 win.
The Gas’ last game out was in the league against Wycombe as they had no midweek action after losing 2 - 0 to Ipswich in the First Round of the League Cup. Harvey Vale scored for Rovers but the late goal wasn’t enough as Wycombe won 2 - 1.
Lincoln City, on the other hand, sits a healthy fourth. In five games, The Imps have three wins, one draw, one loss and ten points. There are five teams all on ten points and Lincoln sit in the middle with the goal difference of four.
The Imps had a tough start to the season. The trip to Bolton ended with a 3 - 0 win for the hosts with an own goal from Paudie O’Connor. However, in their first home game, Lincoln was on the right side of the 3 - 0 scoreline, Recco Hackett-Fairchild, Teddy Bishop and Daniel Mandroiu all scored. Next up was a trip to Northampton Town, a visit that ended in a 2 - 2 draw with goals from Hackett-Fairchild and O’Connor. Then The Imps picked up back-to-back wins, a 1 - 0 win over Shrewsbury and a 3 - 0 win over ten man Blackpool.
Lincoln faced Premier League Sheffield United in the Second Round of the League Cup. After a 0 - 0 draw in normal time, the tie was sent to penalties. Due to the misses from Sheffield United, it didn’t matter that Teddy Bishop missed. Lasse Sorensen, Ethan Hamilton and Daniel Mandriou all scored theirs in the 3 - 2 win.
Bristol Rovers and Lincoln City have met 47 times professionally, the first meeting coming back in 1953. The Gas and The Imps cannot be separated, both having 19 wins each, with the two sides taking home a point on nine occasions.
In the last five meetings between the two there have been three Lincoln wins and two Bristol Rovers wins. In fact, the last three games were all Lincoln wins, a pattern that is likely to continue this weekend.