Lincoln City vs Southampton: Form, Referee, Overview And More

September 4, 2026 Kyle Fox Championship, Lincoln City, Matches, Previews, Referee, Southampton, Stat Attack 0

Lincoln City’s second home league fixture in the space of five days comes against Southampton in what is sure to be an extremely tough test, writes Kyle Fox.

The Imps are unbeaten in three matches across all competitions following Tuesday night’s 0-0 draw against Blackburn Rovers. City produced an impressive display, although they managed only one shot on target and could not find the goal their performance arguably deserved.

That result followed a convincing Carabao Cup victory at Blackpool and a first league win of the season away at Bolton Wanderers.

Southampton’s league campaign last season was ultimately overshadowed by the ‘Spygate’ scandal, which emerged after their play-off semi-final victory over Middlesbrough. It took some of the attention away from an excellent campaign in which Saints finished fourth, just four points behind second-placed Ipswich Town.

An incredible FA Cup run also took Southampton to the semi-finals. They beat reigning Premier League champions Arsenal at St Mary’s in the quarter-finals before suffering a narrow defeat against eventual winners Manchester City.

Saints took the lead through a stunning Finn Azaz strike in the 79th minute, but Jeremy Doku equalised three minutes later. Nico González then broke Southampton hearts by scoring City’s winner in the 87th minute.

Southampton were extremely active during the summer transfer window, bringing in eight players while allowing 13 to leave.

Alex McCarthy, Oriol Romeu, Joe Aribo, Will Smallbone, Charlie Taylor and Ross Stewart departed following the expiration of their contracts. Young midfielder Jay Robinson joined Serie A side Monza on loan, centre-back Joshua Quarshie moved temporarily to Sturm Graz and full-back Juan Larios joined Spanish second-tier side Eldense.

Ben Brereton Díaz, Cameron Archer and Yukinari Sugawara also left on loan, joining Sheffield United, Auxerre and Cagliari respectively. Goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu completed a permanent move to Bolton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee, while the most notable departure was Shea Charles, who joined Fulham in a deal worth up to £30 million.

Saints signed youngsters Divin Mubama and Zach Abbott on loan from Manchester City and Nottingham Forest respectively, while goalkeeper George Long arrived after his Norwich City contract expired.

Cyle Larin completed a permanent move following his loan spell with the club last season, having initially arrived on deadline day in January with an option to buy. Goalkeeper Daniel Peretz followed the same route, signing a long-term deal after spending the second half of last season at St Mary’s.

Their most expensive acquisition was Lewis Dobbin from Aston Villa following his impressive loan spell with Preston North End. Southampton also paid a fee to sign experienced German centre-back Keven Schlotterbeck from Augsburg, while club legend James Ward-Prowse returned on a two-year contract.

Southampton Form

Tonda Eckert’s side began the season positively by beating Colchester United 2-0 away from home in the first round of the EFL Cup.

However, Southampton started their league campaign on minus four points as punishment for their expulsion from the Championship play-offs following the spying scandal. Their opening Championship fixture brought further disappointment as they suffered a 2-1 defeat against Watford at Vicarage Road.

Their second league outing brought a first victory as they beat Stoke City 3-1 at St Mary’s. Eckert’s side were then knocked out of the Carabao Cup in the second round following a heavy 4-1 home defeat against West Ham United.

Their best performance of the season so far came last Saturday, when they produced a dominant display to beat Millwall 5-1. The Lions had been unbeaten, had not conceded a league goal and had allowed only one goal in all competitions before facing Saints.

Southampton followed that victory with a 1-1 draw away at Birmingham City on Tuesday night in a fairly even contest.

Last season, Southampton ranked second for goals per match (1.80) and shots on target per match (5.30), while placing third for expected goals (77.7).

They were also fifth for goals conceded per match (1.20), despite ranking 13th for clean sheets (11) and 12th for expected goals conceded (57.6). Those figures demonstrate the strength of Tonda Eckert’s side, who are again performing well across many of the same metrics this season.

Previous Meetings

Meetings between these clubs have not been commonplace, with only 17 competitive encounters throughout their histories. Ten have come in league competition, with the remaining seven taking place in the League Cup and FA Cup.

Southampton have won ten of those matches, with five draws and only two Lincoln victories. The Imps’ most recent win against this weekend’s opponents came in December 1960, when they recorded a 3-2 victory away from home in the old Second Division.

The latest meeting came in December 2022, when Premier League Southampton hosted City in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup. The hosts won 2-1 thanks to a brace from Che Adams.

Lincoln City vs Southampton Referee

Andrew Kitchen will take charge of the fixture. He has officiated 168 matches during his career, with most of those appointments coming in the Championship. Across those games, he has awarded 29 penalties and shown 15 red cards.

Kitchen has averaged 2.91 yellow cards and 20.4 fouls per match, suggesting he has generally been more lenient than the average official. However, he has overseen three Championship matches this season and averaged four yellow cards and 24.3 fouls per game.

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