Port Vale travel to Sincil Bank to face Lincoln City in a battle to the mid table in League One. Both sides need a big win to try and really kick their season into gear and get into the conversation for the Play-offs or out of the relegation discussions.
Lincoln currently sit ninth in League One after 15 games. The Imps have six wins, four draws and five losses which leaves them on 22 points, just four points behind the final Play-off place.
In their last five games in all competitions, Lincoln have two wins, one draw and two losses. Alfie May opened the scoring for Charlton in the tenth minute but Lincoln were level going into halftime thanks to Hakeeb Adelakun’s first goal of the game. His second game early in the second half and he was joined on the scoresheet by Sean Roughan to give Lincoln the 3 - 1 win. However, Lincoln were brought back down to earth with a draw against Exeter City. Alistair Smith gave The Imps the early lead, but a late goal from Ryan Trevitt meant the game finished 1 - 1.
Then Lincoln were on the losing side against second-place Oxford United. Ciaron Brown opened the scoring for Oxford and an own goal from Lukas Jensen compounded Lincoln’s misery as Oxford won 2 - 0. In the First round of the FA Cup, Lincoln hosted Morecambe. Lasse Sorensen gave Lincoln the lead but a goal from Michael Mellon levelled the game at halftime. Tom Bloxham then grabbed a second for Morecambe in the early stages of the second half as the League Two side grabbed the 2 - 1 win.
The last time out for Lincoln was against Notts County in the Football League Trophy. Jack Burroughs and Jack Vale both scored in the 2 - 0 win despite Lincoln having only 28% of the possession.
Port Vale, on the other hand, sit 16th in League One. In 15 games, Port Vale have five wins, three draws and seven losses, leaving them on 18 points, just five points above the relegation zone.
In their last five games in all competitions, Port Vale have one win, one draw and three losses. Ephron Mason-Clarke scored the only goal of the game for Peterborough in the 14th minute to give them the 1 - 0 win over Port Vale. This loss was then followed up by a loss against Cheltenham. Alfie Devine opened the scoring for Port Vale but a brace from Sean Long gave Cheltenham the 2 -1 win.
In the Round of 16 of the League Cup, Port Vale travelled to Mansfield. Devine scored the only goal of the game in the 50th minute for the 1 - 0 win and a spot in the next round. In the First round of the FA Cup, Port Vale faced Burton Albion. It was a goalless draw despite Port Vale going down to ten men in the 18th minute with the red card for Nathan Smith.
The most recent outing for Port Vale was in the Football League Trophy against Wrexham. Despite taking the lead through Joshua Thomas, goals from Paul Mullin and James McClean gave Wrexham the 2 - 1 win.
Lincoln and Port Vale have met 90 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming all the way back in 1892. Not much separates the two sides with Lincoln having 34 wins in comparison to Port Vale’s 33 wins, with the other 23 games ending in a share of the points.