Burton Albion v Lincoln City (a): Match Preview

The Imps travel to the Pirelli Stadium today to take on Burton Albion in the opening match of the 2024/25 League One season. Saturday’s referee for the 17:30 kick-off is Edward Duckworth, who will be refereeing his third match involving the hosts and his first involving City. Last season he refereed 33 matches, showing 138 yellow cards (4.18) and 6 red cards.

GET INVOLVED: You can get involved with our Burton Albion v Lincoln City Match Thread and many other topics on our 100% Imps forum! Also, have a go at both of the quizzes below (click the graphics).

Pre-season: The two sides have had very different pre-season schedules, with the hosts only having two friendly matches, both of which were against League Two opposition at home, while City played seven in total.

Burton Albion pre-season results:

27/7 PORT VALE H 2-0 (Bodin, Godwin-Malife)
3/8 MORECAMBE H 2-2 (Bodin, Burrell)

Lincoln City pre-season results:

12/7 Preston North End N 1-0 (Makama)
16/7 Leeds United A 0-3
20/7 Oldham Athletic A 0-0
23/7 Walsall A 2-1 (Makama, Bayliss)
27/7 Harrogate Town A 4-0 (Duffy, Roughan, Draper, Street)
30/7 Norwich City U21 A 2-1 (Makama, Jefferies)
3/8 ARSENAL U21 H 2-1 (Montsma, House)

Last season: The Brewers only just survived in League One, having picked up an average of 1 point per game, finishing 20th, just two points ahead of Cheltenham Town, while City were, in the end, incredibly unlucky to miss out on a play-off spot on the final day of the season after a truly incredible run of form. The hosts had the lowest average attendance in the division last season at 3,419, while City were placed 11th overall with an average of 8,424. Albion’s top three goalscorers last season were Mark Helm (6, now at Fleetwood Town), Beryly Lubala (6, now at Wycombe Wanderers) and Joe Powell (5, now at Rotherham United), and City’s were Joe Taylor (10, now back at Luton Town), Danny Mândroiu (8, linked to Blackpool) and Reeco Hackett-Fairchild (7, still with City).

Transfer Business (Burton Albion):

In:

Goalkeeper: Harry Isted, 27 (Charlton Athletic)
Defender: Ivan Inzoudine, 27 (FC Chambly Oise – France)
Defender: Terence Vancooten, 26 (Stevenage)
Defender: Nick Akoto, 25 (South Georgia Tormentor – USA)
Defender: Geraldo Bajrami, 24 (Notts County)
Defender: Udoka Godwin-Malife, 24 (Swindon Town)
Defender: Jack Armer, 23 (Carlisle United)
Defender: Jason Sraha, 21 (Shrewsbury Town)
Defender: Alex Bannon, 20 (Queen’s Park)
Defender: Dylan Williams, 20 (season loan from Chelsea)
Midfielder: Ben Whitfield, 28 (Barrow)
Midfielder: Jack Hazlehurst, 25 (Chorley)
Midfielder: Elliot Watt, 24 (Salford City)
Midfielder: Tomas Kalinauskas, 23 (FC Den Bosch – Netherlands)
Midfielder: Charlie Webster, 20 (Chelsea)
Striker: Billy Bodin, 32 (Oxford United)
Striker: Danilo Orsi, 28 (Crawley Town)
Striker: Rumarn Burrell, 23 (Cove Rangers)
Striker: Julian Larsson, 23 (Nottingham Forest)
Striker: Jack Cooper-Love, 22 (Elfsborg – Sweden)

Out:

Goalkeeper: Jamal Blackman, 30 ()
Defender: John Brayford, 36 (retired)
Defender: Toto Nsiala, 32 (Shrewsbury Town)
Defender: Jake Caprice, 31 ()
Defender: Deji Oshilaja, 31 (Mansfield Town)
Defender: Sam Hughes, 27 (Stockport County)
Defender: Tom Hamer, 24 (Lincoln City)
Midfielder: Mustapha Carayol, 35 ()
Midfielder: Charlie Lakin, 25 (Walsall)
Midfielder: Joe Powell, 25 (Rotherham United)
Midfielder: Mark Helm, 22 (Fleetwood Town)
Striker: Cole Stockton, 30 (Salford City)
Striker: Josh Gordon, 29 (Walsall)
Striker: Josh Walker, 26 (Southend United)
Striker: Bobby Kamwa, 24 (Newport County)

Lincoln City Transfer Business:

In:

Goalkeeper: Zach Jeacock, 23 (free agent)
Goalkeeper: Jamie Pardington, 23 (Cheltenham Town)
Goalkeeper: George Wickens, 22 (Fulham)
Defender: Tendayi Darikwa, 32 (Apollon Limassol – Cyprus)
Defender: Tom Hamer, 24 (Burton Albion)
Midfielder: Conor McGrandles, 28 (Charlton Athletic)
Midfielder: Tom Bayliss, 25 (Shrewsbury Town)
Midfielder: Dom Jefferies, 22 (Gillingham)
Midfielder: JJ McKiernan, 22 (Morecambe)
Striker: Rob Street, 22 (Cheltenham Town)

Out:

Goalkeeper: Lukas Jensen, 25 (Millwall)
Goalkeeper: Jordan Wright, 25 (Grimsby Town)
Goalkeeper: Sam Long, 21 (Bromley)
Defender: Jaden Brown, 25 (St Mirren)
Defender: TJ Eyoma, 24 ()
Defender: Lasse Sørensen, 24 (Huddersfield Town)
Defender: Elicha Ahui, 20 (Drogheda United)
Defender: Hayden Cann, 20 (Dundalk)
Midfielder: Hakeeb Adelakun, 27 ()
Midfielder: Teddy Bishop, 27 (Colchester United)
Midfielder: Danny Mândroiu, 25 ()

Starting XI: I’d have to agree with TrickyImps! and Imprest1 on the forum:

Wickens

O’Connor – Jackson – Roughan

Darikwa – Bayliss – Erhahon – McKiernan – Duffy

House – Makama

Prediction: I’m going for a 2-1 win for City. It is the opening day of the season and it isn’t going to be easy, but I’d like to think player familiarity and our pre-season preparation will stand us in stead.