Preview: Lincoln City vs West Ham United - prediction, team news, lineups

Lincoln City play host to West Ham United on Wednesday night, with both teams looking to end two-game streaks without a victory.

At a time when the Imps sit in 15th position in the Championship table, the Hammers are in third place.

Match preview

When West Ham recorded a 6-0 victory over Wrexham on September 11, it felt as though Nuno Espirito Santo's side would go on to extend what was then a four-match winning streak.

Instead, West Ham have faced three London clubs across all competitions and failed to overcome any of them.

A 3-2 defeat to Fulham in the EFL Cup third round was followed by the Hammers needing to battle back from 2-0 down to earn a share of the spoils at East London rivals Millwall.

Another comeback would follow in their first fixture after the international break, West Ham securing a 1-1 draw at home to Queens Park Rangers, yet squandering the chance for three points through a late penalty miss from Jarrod Bowen.

On a positive note, West Ham remain with just one defeat from nine Championship fixtures, hold the best attacking record in the division (23 goals) and start the latest batch of fixtures four points behind leaders Swansea City.

As far as Lincoln are concerned, they will be delighted to be sitting in 15th spot after nine games of their first season in the second tier for more than 60 years.

Collecting 11 points from nine matches and recording away wins at the likes of Preston North End and Bristol City represents a strong start for Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw.

However, a 2-1 defeat at home to leaders Swansea before the international break was followed by a 3-0 reverse at Sheffield United on Saturday.

For the second time this season, Lincoln have posted back-to-back defeats in the Championship, and they can ill-afford to do that on a regular basis if they wish to avoid a relegation battle.

Ahead of the first league game between these two clubs since 1957, the Imps sit four points above the bottom three.

Lincoln City Championship form:

Lincoln City form (all competitions):

West Ham United Championship form:

West Ham United form (all competitions):

Team News

Lincoln are likely to make a number of changes to their starting lineup, with Yunus Konak, Chiedozie Ogbene and Mikkel Ladefoged all options to come into midfield and the final third.

Conor McGrandles, Ben House and Freddie Draper may all drop out of the side if those players are handed opportunities.

Reece Hackett may come back into contention after concussion, while it remains to be seen whether Romania international Andrei Coubis could return to the squad.

Mohamadou Kante is available for West Ham after serving a one-match ban, but the midfielder may have to accept a place on the substitutes' bench.

Tomas Soucek will be assessed after making his return from a long-term injury on Friday. Joel Piroe could be recalled if the Czech Republic midfielder is only named on the substitutes' bench.

Joel Veltman is also an option to return after recovering from injury over the international break.

Lincoln City possible starting lineup:

Wickens; Bradley, Elerewe, Towler; Jefferies, Konak, Bayliss, Reach; Ogbene, Street; Ladefoged

West Ham United possible starting lineup:

Hermansen; Veltman, Mavropanos, Kilman, Morato; Mukasa, Engels; Bowen, Piroe, Solomon; Castellanos

We say: Lincoln City 1-3 West Ham United

Although West Ham are without a win in three games across all competitions, they have fought back to earn draws in two of those matches. With that in mind, we feel that the Hammers' superior quality in attack will prove to be the difference in the second half, subsequently earning them an important three points.

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