Sheffield United vs Lincoln: a side that only wins away

Sheffield United vs Lincoln City at Bramall Lane, 15:00 BST on Saturday 10 October, brings the Championship’s strangest away record to South Yorkshire. Lincoln have won three of their four away matches and none of their four at home. Sheffield United have lost their last two.

Lincoln have kept four clean sheets, level with Swansea City for the most in the division, and three of them came on the road. Sheffield United have failed to score in three of their eight.

Sheffield United: three draws, then a slide

Sheffield United drew 0-0 with Birmingham City, 0-0 at Swansea and 2-2 at Cardiff City, beat Bolton Wanderers 3-2, lost 3-1 at home to Norwich City, won 2-1 at Blackburn Rovers, lost 1-0 at home to Wolverhampton Wanderers and lost 2-1 at Stoke City. Nine scored, eleven conceded, nine points.

At home they have one win, a draw and two defeats, four scored and six conceded. Their two home defeats came in their last two home matches. It is a side that has not yet found a rhythm at Bramall Lane.

Lincoln: good away, poor at home

Lincoln lost 2-1 at Middlesbrough and 3-1 at home to Portsmouth, won 1-0 at Bolton, drew 0-0 with Blackburn and 1-1 with Southampton, won 1-0 at Preston North End and 1-0 at Bristol City, and lost 2-1 at home to Swansea. Seven scored, eight conceded, eleven points.

Away from home: three wins, one defeat, four scored, two conceded. At home: two draws, two defeats, three scored, six conceded. All three away wins were 1-0. Lincoln do not score many, but when they travel they rarely need to.

• Sheffield United: 9 points from their first eight, 9 scored, 11 conceded
• Sheffield United at home: won 1, drawn 1, lost 2, 4 scored, 6 conceded
• Lincoln: 11 points from their first eight, 7 scored, 8 conceded, 4 clean sheets
• Lincoln away: won 3, lost 1, 4 scored, 2 conceded; all three wins 1-0
• Kick-off: Saturday 10 October, 15:00 BST, Bramall Lane

Last time out

Sheffield United lost 2-1 at Stoke City on 19 September, a second consecutive defeat and a third in four matches. They had won 2-1 at Blackburn in between.

Lincoln lost 2-1 at home to Swansea City the same afternoon, their second home defeat of the season. It ended a run of two consecutive 1-0 away wins.

Where the table stands

After eight matches Lincoln are thirteenth on eleven points and Sheffield United eighteenth on nine. A Sheffield United win would take them past Lincoln; a Lincoln win would open a five-point gap and move them within touching distance of the play-off group.

Two halves of a start

Sheffield United started with three draws and have faded since. Six points from their first four matches, three from their last four, with four scored and seven conceded in that second run. The defence that did not concede in the opening two matches has conceded in each of the last four.

Lincoln have improved: four points from their first four, seven from their last four, with four scored and three conceded. Five of their eight matches have been decided by a single goal and only three have produced three goals or more. They play tight matches and, away from home, they usually win them.

What decides it

Lincoln’s away record is the clearest pattern in this fixture: three away wins from four, all by a single goal, two away goals conceded. Sheffield United’s recent home form is poor. If Lincoln score first, their record says they will probably keep it.

For Sheffield United, a home win would end a two-match losing run and pull them clear of the bottom group. For Lincoln, another 1-0 away would be entirely in character.

The contrast is sharpest in Lincoln’s clean sheets. They have four, three of them away from home, and all three away clean sheets produced 1-0 wins. At home they have kept one, in a goalless draw with Blackburn Rovers. Sheffield United have failed to score in three matches, two of them at Bramall Lane, which is exactly the kind of afternoon Lincoln’s away record has been built on so far this season.

Simulate it before it happens

Lincoln win away and Sheffield United have lost their last two at Bramall Lane. On the Championship simulator you can play this match now and see if the pattern holds.

• Play the remaining 38 rounds from the real table and the real fixture list
• Run this fixture through the AI match simulator, in tactical view or in the physics arena
• Open the line-up builder for both clubs before you kick off a simulation
• Turn an arena simulation into a vertical video ready to share

"Lincoln have won three of four away from home, all 1-0. They have not won at home."