After suffering three consecutive league defeats, Lincoln will return to Sincil Bank to face Charlton Athletic in an early kickoff in League One, writes Darragh Tracy.
Charlton Form
Charlton Athletic, managed by Nathan Jones, have not had the best start to their League One campaign. The former Premier League club has been in the third tier since the 2020/21 season, following their last-place finish in the Championship the season before. Their highest position since returning to League One was in that same 2020/21 season, where they finished in seventh place.
Since then, Charlton have been struggling in the middle of the table. Mid-table mediocrity has been a recurring theme for the London side in recent years, and unfortunately for the Addicks, this has become their new normal. After a 2-1 defeat at home to Crawley on Tuesday night, there is only one direction that Nathan Jones‘s team is going in, and that is down. Both sides desperately need a win in the league to prop up any hopes of finishing in the higher echelons of the league table, due to the competitive nature of this season division.
Despite all the poor results and negativity surrounding Charlton, there have been some very positive outcomes this season. The London side were the first to inflict defeat on league favourites Birmingham City at the Valley, and on top of this, they conquered Bolton in the same venue and have had impressive draws against Barnsley and Wrexham.
However, in a game where both sides are out of form, individual quality may have separated the two teams during the lunchtime kickoff on Saturday.
Charlton Tactics
Likely to line up in a 4-3-1-2 formation, Charlton will come to Sincil Bank looking to keep the ball in high areas of the pitch, rather than in their own half. Like Lincoln, the Addicks try to hit the frontmen from goal kicks, and then retrieve the second ball and play from there. Academy product Miles Leaburn and million pound summer signing Gassan Ahadme are set to start up front, with former Coventry striker Matty Godden slotting in just behind them.
Former Imp Tayo Edun and full-back Theirry Small are both nursing muscle strains, but both are likely to be in the matchday squad, but not in the starting lineup. Other than that, the Addicks have pretty much a clean bill of health, and will travel up to Lincolnshire tomorrow with a fully-fit squad.
Previous Meetings
Charlton have had a tough time facing the Imps over the last few seasons, with their last win over Lincoln being a 2-1 win at the Valley in January 2023. Since, City have beaten the Addicks 3-1 at Sincil Bank, during the period Tom Shaw took interim charge of the team. In the most previous fixture between the two, Reeco Hackett netted a fine strike to earn the Imps a point in the capital.
Charlton Athletic have failed to win any of their last seven away league games against Lincoln City (D3 L4) , with their last victory being a a 3-2 win in February 1958. Hopefully, that will be a good omen for tomorrow’s game, so the Imps can get back to winning ways in the league.
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