Preview: Chesterfield vs Mansfield Town - prediction, team news, lineups

League One outfit Mansfield Town will be bidding to book their spot in the second round of the EFL Cup when they tackle League Two side Chesterfield on Tuesday night.

Mansfield have started their domestic season with successive defeats, but Chesterfield have posted two straight wins, so the home side will enter this match in the better form.

Match preview

Chesterfield finished seventh in League Two last season, one point ahead of eighth-placed Salford City, which saw them claim a spot in the playoffs, but they lost to Walsall in the semi-finals.

Town are therefore once again operating in the fourth tier of English football, but they have made an excellent start to this season, beating Barrow 1-0 in their campaign opener before recording a 2-0 victory over Cheltenham Town.

Paul Cook's side will be expecting to challenge high up the division this term, and there is no getting away from the fact that the league will be their main priority during the 2025-26 campaign.

Chesterfield have never won the EFL Cup, but they did lift the EFL Trophy in 2012, and overcoming a League One side in the first round of this season's League Cup would give their confidence a major boost.

Mansfield, meanwhile, finished 17th in League One last season, and the early indications are that it could be another testing campaign for the club, having suffered back-to-back losses in 2025-26.

Indeed, Nigel Clough's side were beaten 2-1 at Burton Albion in their campaign opener on August 2 before going down 2-1 at home to Doncaster Rovers on Saturday afternoon.

The Stags won the EFL Trophy back in 1987, while their best performance in the League Cup came in 1975-76, when they managed to reach the quarter-finals of the tournament before losing to Manchester City.

Mansfield recorded a 1-0 victory over Chesterfield when the two teams last locked horns back in April 2018, but Chesterfield were 3-1 winners in their last cup (FA Cup) contest in November 2008.

Chesterfield form (all competitions):

Mansfield Town form (all competitions):

Team News

Chesterfield head coach Cook will make changes to the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Cheltenham, including a spot between the sticks for Ryan Boot.

Liam Mandeville and Ronan Darcy are expected to be among those to be introduced into the side, while there should be a spot through the middle for Will Grigg, who came off the bench on Saturday.

Adam Lewis and Ryheem Sheckleford are also in line for starts on Tuesday night.

As for Mansfield, head coach Clough will also ring the changes from the Doncaster clash, with Rhys Oates and George Maris set to be introduced in the final third of the field.

The visitors played a 3-5-2 formation on Saturday, but it is possible that they could switch back to a 4-3-3 here, with Stephen McLaughlin and Jordan Bowery likely to come into the starting side.

Chesterfield possible starting lineup:

Boot; Sheckleford, McFadzean, Dunkley, Lewis; Dibley-Dias, Naylor; Darcy, Mandeville, Duffy; Grigg

Mansfield Town possible starting lineup:

Mason; Bowery, Blake-Tracy, Cargill, McLaughlin; Moriah-Welsh, Reed, Hendry; Maris, Evans, Oates

We say: Chesterfield 2-1 Mansfield Town

Mansfield play a league higher than Chesterfield and should therefore be the favourites, but the home side have been in impressive form at the start of the new season, and we are backing Cook's side to progress to the second round of the League Cup.

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