Lincoln City Match Preview
Last season, West Ham United were dumped out of the Carabao Cup on penalties by Sky Bet Championship side Blackburn Rovers. They will obviously want to avoid another embarrassment this time around when they travel to The LNER Stadium to face Sky Bet League One opponents in the shape of Lincoln City tonight.
David Moyes’ side will be hoping to make it past the Imps and secure a place in round four, having said that, they will be aware of what the home side did to fellow Premier League side Sheffield United in round two.
With the Scotsman having to prioritise his team’s workload, whilst it would be good to get a win here to build momentum going into Saturday’s top-flight encounter with the newly-promoted Blades, it is not exactly top of the manager’s list.
This is the third straight season that the Hammers have entered the competition at the third round stage due to European commitments.
If the match ends level after ninety minutes, then it’ll go straight to a penalty shoot-out to decide who progresses. The winner will then learn who they will face in the fourth round, as the draw will be made shortly after the final whistle.
Both teams will want to atone for disappointing results at the weekend. The Irons lost 3-1 at Liverpool, while Mark Kennedy’s side surrendered a one-goal advantage to leave Portsmouth empty-handed.
The hosts will be the fresher of the two sides, having had one extra day’s preparation but the East Londoners will surely be favourite to beat Lincoln, as they were against both Charlton Athletic and Hull City three seasons ago.
Less than a week after their UEFA Europa League opener, Moyes is likely to name a similar side to the one he fielded against FK TSC Bačka Topola. Names such as Łukasz Fabiański, Angelo Ogbonna, Thilo Kehrer, Ben Johnson, Pablo Fornals, Saïd Benrahma, Maxwel Cornet, Danny Ings, Konstantinos Mavropanos and Mohammed Kudus could all feature again.
Connor Coventry was involved in the matchday squad for the opening game at AFC Bournemouth and he is set to feature against the club he spent time on loan with during the 2019/20 season, while Divin Mubama could also be in contention.
Tonight’s match is a 7:45pm kick-off and the referee is Josh Smith.