Colchester vs Lincoln City Predictions

After a winning run of three matches, Colchester fell to defeat away at Grimsby in a 1-0 loss. Wes Thomas struck in the second half to mean Colchester left with nothing, having had 20 attempts on goal but a lack of clinical finishing prevented them from getting anything from the game.

Colchester had been on a decent run, beating Morecambe and Crawley in the league, as well as Southend in the EFL Trophy. They deserved all three points in both games. At Morecambe, they dominated the game from start to finish and didn’t allow Morecambe to even have a shot on target, whilst with Crawley, Colchester showed why they are considered to be one of the best attacking teams in the league with some great goals and play. Indeed, in other matches, Colchester have proven regularly already this year that they are serious promotion candidates.

The team has attacking outlets throughout the team, with Luke Norris the talisman, getting eight goals and three assists already this season. Four other players have more than three goals, including playmaker Sammie Szmodics, who also has provided three assists. It is testament to the way manager John McGreal wants his teams to play football and for his players, who have responded in emphatic fashion. In total, Colchester have had ten different scorers this season, and find themselves the second-highest scorers in the league, behind their opponents for this match, Lincoln City.

Back-to-back home draws for Lincoln City has seen their lead at the top cut down to three points. Their latest was a 2-2 thriller with Carlisle, which saw all goals scored in the first half. Lincoln showed the champions’ mentality to come from behind twice and keep themselves in the game but couldn’t put away the chances they had in the second-half to win the match. Whilst manager Danny Cowley will have been pleased with the fightback, it seemed a missed opportunity.

Against Cambridge in the previous game, Lincoln held on for a point after being down to ten men for over 70 minutes of the match. Once more, Cowley will have been pleased with the doggedness of his team to not allow Cambridge to take all three points and carry on a five-game unbeaten run.

Indeed, having only lost twice all season, Lincoln are rightly the favourites for the League Two crown. They have a balanced squad, with leaders like Jason Shackell, Matt Rhead, Michael Bostwick, and Lee Frecklington providing a strong core to the team. In addition, their dynamic style of play has electrified the league, making them top scorers and giving us performances like the 6-2 over Port Vale, which saw set-pieces worked to a tee. Automatic promotion must surely happen for Lincoln this season but they must be careful after back-to-back draws.

For the top two scorers in the league, the value for over 2.5 goals is surprisingly good. We think this will happen given the strength of both sides’ attacking play, especially as both teams will be looking to respond to disappointing results in midweek. This will be one of Lincoln’s toughest tests of the season and, after a couple of slips, we think Colchester could take something from this game if they produce a strong home performance. Thus, a correct score of 2-2 seems reasonable for what should be a cracking match of football.