It's just over nine years since these sides last met - and over 12 years since they played a league fixture, with the Silkmen having dropped out of the Football League in 2012.
It's been tough going so far in their first season back in the EFL and they parted company with Mark Yates two weeks ago, as he took them into October winless and in bottom spot.
Three home draws had been the only bright sparks in an otherwise troubled opening two months, but a defeat on their home patch at the hands of Notts County, albeit following a creditable 3-3 away draw at Newport, proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back as Yates was asked to leave Moss Rose.
Danny Whitaker and Neil Howarth stepped in as joint caretaker managers for the Accrington and Tranmere games, and it was a baptism of fire at the Wham Stadium as they went down to a 4-1 Checkatrade Trophy defeat.
Last Friday's visit to Prenton Park brought the Macc Lads an unwelcome record as they went to 36 consecutive league games without a victory, matching Derby County's troublesome run from 2007/08. A late goal from Harvey Gilmour was enough to give Tranmere the points.
Danny Whitaker [3 goals], Koby Arthur [2 goals and 1 assist] and David Fitzpatrick [2 goals and 1 assist] are the men to watch as the Silkmen look to push on this weekend.
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Manager’s thoughts ...
Speaking ahead of the weekend trip, manager John Sheridan said: "Our away form is excellent at the moment and we want that to continue.
"I'm under no illusions that the current run will be put to the test on Saturday. As we've seen first hand in recent weeks, this is a division which is very evenly matched and any team can beat any other team at any time.
"Macclesfield will be hurting with the start to the season they've had, because they got used to winning games last season. I have no doubt they'll do everything to turn things round, so we have to make sure we don't give them the spark which pushes them on.
"It's a game for us to look forward to and one where we are looking to continue our run and get another good result."
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Did You Know?
+ The beginnings of the club can be traced in part to the 8th Cheshire Rifle Volunteers, who played their first match in 1873. The Olympic Cricket Club also played football in Macclesfield, and in October 1876 the two organisations amalgamated to form Macclesfield Football Club.
+ Macclesfield were founder members of the Cheshire County League in 1919.
+ The 1994-95 season saw the Silkmen win the Vauxhall Conference, under Sammy McIlroy, heading the table from 5 November 1994 until the end of the season. They were denied promotion to the Football League due to ground criteria.
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Head to Head
These sides have met on a total of 16 occasions with a fairly even split between wins and defeats. United have come out on top on six occasions, with Macclesfield triumphant on seven.
| Carlisle wins | Draws | Macclesfield wins | |
| Cup | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| League | 4 | 3 | 5 |
| FA Cup | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 6 | 3 | 7 |
The last meeting between the sides was in October 2009 when the Silkmen headed north for a JPT evening fixture. A tight first half sprung to life in time added on when Shaun Brisley put the visitors ahead.
The Blues turned things round with goals from Matt Robson, Scott Dobie (2) and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, and they saw it through to successful progression despite a late reply from John Rooney.
Watch the goals from that game here ...
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Man in the middle
Our referee for this game is Mr Michael Salisbury. Michael has taken charge of 12 games so far this season showing 36 yellow cards and one red.
We saw him on three occasions last season, starting with a 2-0 home defeat to Stevenage last September. Second half errors from keeper Shamal George opened the door for Boro to win the game, and Danny Grainger, Luke Joyce and Richie Bennett had their names taken on the day.
He was back at Brunton Park in December when we lost 2-1 to Port Vale. Richie Bennett bagged our late consolation, but goals from Tyrone Barnett and Tom Pope had already done the damage. The referee's notebook stayed in his pocket that afternoon.
The last time we saw him was for our January 2-0 FA Cup defeat at Hillsborough when goals from Marco Matias and Athde Nuhiu secured progression for the Owls. It was another game without cards, but there was plenty of snow as the white stuff fell at an alarming rate causing problems both during the game and for the journey home.
Referee - Michael Salisbury
Assistant Referee 1 - Stephen Wade
Assistant Referee 2 - Alix Pashley
Fourth Official - Joe Simpson
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Ticket information
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