Preview: Carlisle United vs. Accrington Stanley - prediction, team news, lineups

Two teams in the trenches of the League Two table will hope to win a relegation six-pointer when Carlisle United welcome Accrington Stanley to Brunton Park on Sunday afternoon.

Both teams head into this game on identical winless streaks, having both failed to win any of their last six matches in League Two.

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Match preview

Carlisle United suffered a crushing 1-0 defeat to Morecambe in their last league outing, leaving them rooted to the bottom of the League Two table.

The Cumbrians conceded the only goal of the game in the 61st minute before Jon Mellish was sent off a minute later, leaving them with a mountain to climb.

This season has been a torrid affair for the hosts, who were relegated from League One last season, with their dreadful start to the campaign resulting in the dismissal of Paul Simpson as head coach in late August, with Mike Williamson taking over three weeks later.

With a meagre 15 points from 21 matches, Carlisle are currently four points adrift of safety, having won just three games all season, but more worryingly, they have now failed to find the back of the net in their last three league fixtures.

Scoring goals has been a significant problem for Williamson's side – their paltry 15 goals scored this season ranks them joint-bottom of the League Two scoring charts alongside Tranmere Rovers.

Carlisle's home form has also been a major concern, with only one win and six points at Brunton Park leaving them with the second-worst home record in the division. However, they can draw inspiration from their historical dominance over the visitors, having won five and drawn one of their last six encounters at home in this fixture.

Meanwhile, Accrington Stanley will enter Sunday's clash with fresher legs after their Boxing Day fixture against Tranmere was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

It has been a turbulent first half of the season for John Doolan's side, who find themselves hovering precariously above the relegation zone, occupying 22nd place with just 19 points, a mere two points and one place above second-from-bottom Morecambe.

Accrington's defensive frailties have been a significant contributing factor to their struggles, with only Morecambe (36) conceding more goals than the Reds (36).

The visitors have also struggled on the road, picking up a league-low eight points away from home, making a turnaround at Brunton Park appear unlikely, despite their hosts languishing at the foot of the table.

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Team News

Carlisle United will be without 27-year-old defender Mellish for their upcoming clash, following his straight red card in the defeat to Morecambe.

Ben Williams is the most likely candidate to step into Mellish's shoes, with a back three having Ben Barclay, Samuel Lavelle, and Aaron Hayden also likely to remain.

Accrington Stanley will continue to be without Jake Batty and Jay Rich-Baghuelou, both sidelined by injury, while midfielder Dan Martin, unfortunately, remains a long-term absentee since suffering a serious injury back in August.

Sebastian Quirk has been absent from the team since picking up an injury against Notts County in September, with 25-year-old forward Kelsey Mooney also unavailable for Sunday's encounter.

Carlisle United possible starting lineup: Breeze; Hayden, Lavelle, Barclay; Biggins, Harper, Neal, Williams; Burey, Jones; Adu-Adjei

Accrington Stanley possible starting lineup: Crellin; Aljofree, Rawson, Love; O'Brien, Woods, Coyle, Khumbeni; Whalley, Walton, Costelloe

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We say: Carlisle United 1-1 Accrington Stanley

When two struggling teams go head-to-head, there is often a sense of opportunity for both sides to go all out in pursuit of maximum points. However, we believe this clash is more likely to end in a stalemate, given that both teams have been lacking sharpness in front of goal recently.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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