Carlisle vs Notts County Predictions

Carlisle United finally managed to break out of their winless run on Saturday as they beat Swindon Town 2-1 at Brunton Park, halting their slide down the rankings and keeping their hopes of reaching the League 2 Playoffs well and truly alive.

The Blues currently sit 7th in the table and have a one point cushion over Exeter below them, but their recent five match winless run had introduced some serious doubt as to whether they are capable of maintaining their playoff standing. Fortunately, their win against Swindon will have renewed that belief somewhat.

It certainly boost their confidence ahead of this midweek clash with the struggling Notts County. The visitors managed a playoff appearance of their own last season as they finished 5th in the table, but things haven’t exactly gone to plan this term.

Indeed, with just 10 games left to play in League 2 they find themselves scrambling around in the relegation zone. They lie rock bottom of the table with a seven point chasm between themselves and safety, and a drop out of the Football League would be devastating just a year on from their dreams of moving up to League 1.

The Magpies’ mood wasn’t made any better by their 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Cheltenham on Saturday, a result that made it three defeats and one draw from their last four outings in League 2. They enjoyed a brief resurgence back in February as they won back to back games for the first time since October, but any morale boost that came from that has surely been washed away on the back of their current form.

Things get no better for Notts County on the road either. They have won just two away games in the league all season, losing on 12 occasions and picking up a meagre 10 points from a possible 54. Coming into this game they have lost six of their last eight on the road, and they’re facing a Carlisle side who have made Brunton Park their fortress recently.

The Cumbrians have won six of their last eight on home soil, losing only to MK Dons a month ago and drawing with Exeter just before that. They have scored an impressive 22 goals in these eight matches too, including a 6-0 battering of Oldham and a 4-0 win over Colchester. All things considered, backing a win for Carlisle here looks excellent value for money, so we’re going for that along with a 2-1 correct score prediction.