These teams have met a lot over the years, and it couldn't be more even.
Both sides have won 34 of the encounters, with the other 19 meetings drawn.
|
|
Carlisle wins |
Draws |
Tranmere wins |
|
League |
31 |
16 |
29 |
|
Cup |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
FA Cup |
1 |
0 |
3 |
|
League Cup |
2 |
1 |
2 |
|
Total |
34 |
19 |
34 |
But isn't football just plain barmy.
United's boss of just under 12-months, Chris Beech, has taken his team on an early-season charge, and he'll be up against an opposition manager he knows inside-out having worked as assistant to Keith Hill at Rochdale through some successful times at Spotland.
Hill, 51, replaces Michael Jackson who was relieved of his duties at Prenton Park at the end of October, having been in charge for just three months.
Caretaker manager Ian Dawes took the side on an unbeaten three-game run, and to within two points of the play-off places, so it's a healthy situation which greets the new and experienced gaffer down in Birkenhead.
The third game in that good Tranmere run was a five-goal walloping of Grimsby on Saturday. The hosts were four net bulgers to the good within 34 minutes, and the only surprise was that it took them until the 86th minute to add to the tally.
Away wins at Harrogate and Port Vale signalled the Rovers resurgence as November started to look much better for one of the teams who dropped down from League One last season, and those successes were complemented by an FA Cup victory over Accrington Stanley which has set up a third-round home tie with non-league Brackley Town.
It's a squad full of talent, but James Vaughan is the one to watch as he enjoys a rich vein of form. He bagged twice in the weekend rout of the Mariners and now sits on a healthy ten in all competitions for the campaign so far.
And he isn't just about scoring, as his experience and knowledge of the game brings added guile to the Tranmere front line. With transfer fees totalling over £4 million over the years, the former-Everton graduate has seen service at the top levels of the game for most of his career.
Seven of his ten goals are in the league, so he's one who will need to be dealt with.
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It was a comfortable three-goal home victory for Rovers in March 2019 when Ollie Banks broke the deadlock just before half time. Oliver Norwood and Manny Monthe completed the scoring after the break.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Tranmere took all three points home from their trip to Cumbria in September 2018. The Blues had 15 minutes to forget at the end of the game as a penalty miss was followed by an own goal from Tom Parkes, and a killer blow from Paul Mullin just before the final whistle.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Our last meeting prior to that was in February 2015, at Prenton Park, when a quickfire double from Charlie Wyke just after the break secured a 2-0 away victory for the Blues. It came at a price as Kyle Dempsey received his marching orders deep into time added on.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The league meeting at Brunton Park earlier that season was a tense affair, but a nice finish from David Amoo with just 20 minutes left to play proved to be the difference as the Cumbrians battled their way to a hard-earned three points.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The trio of meetings from that season was completed, again at Prenton Park, when the sides came together in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. Brad Potts got on the end of a good move to cancel out a first half Max Power goal, but it was Tranmere who progressed as they got the better of the penalty shoot-out, winning by 5-4 at the end of a very long night.
Watch the highlights of that game here:
Referee - David Rock
Assistant Referee 1 - Hristo Karaivanov
Assistant Referee 2 - Andrew Dallison
Fourth Official - James Oldham
The referee for this game is Mr David Rock. He has taken charge of 10 games so far this showing 28 yellow cards and four reds.
We met up with him for the first time as our man in the middle for the trip to face Orient back in October 2019. Jack Iredale scored the goal which earned us a 1-1 draw and Mo Sagaf, Nathan Thomas and Byron Webster had their names taken on the day.
He was also our man in the middle for our away game at Crawley in February 2020. No goals were scored that day, but Aaron Hayden, Nick Anderton and Byron Webster had their names put into the book.
This is a behind closed doors fixture.
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