Lincoln City v Manchester City U21: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Manchester City’s senior team have been struggling in recent times and their Under-21s could exit the EFL Trophy with a loss to League One highflyers Lincoln City at Sincil Bank.

Northern section Group G is finely balanced with Chesterfield leading the way on five points and second-placed Lincoln and third-placed City tucked in behind with three points each.

Chesterfield are safely through to the knockout rounds and will advance as group winners if they finish with a home win over basement boys Grimsby.

But the race to join them in the final 32 is a finely-balanced head-to-head between Lincoln and City’s under-21’s, with the potential for a decisive penalty shootout to determine the outcome.

City will be accustomed to penalty drama having been involved in two shootouts in their opening two matches.

They registered 1-1 draws away to Chesterfield and Grimsby, losing the first of those shootouts and winning the second.

Lincoln have had mixed fortunes, following a 1-0 loss at home to Chesterfield with a 2-1 success away to Grimsby.

Lincoln City v Manchester City U21 betting tips and predictions

Lincoln City to win - 8/13

Lincoln are featuring prominently in the League One promotion race and can progress to the EFL Trophy knockout rounds by defeating a severely depleted Manchester City Under-21’s side in the third of their group fixtures.

Team selection will be a balancing act for Imps’ manager Michael Skubala, who is sure to prioritise Saturday’s early afternoon league fixture away to Exeter.

The Imps drew 1-1 away to mid-table Bristol Rovers at the weekend but they remained in fifth place and are only five points outside of the automatic promotion places.

Manchester City’s youngsters are setting the pace in Premier League 2 with seven wins from eight games and some of the club’s brightest academy stars have had recent exposure with Pep Guardiola’s senior side.

City’s talented crop are attracting a lot of attention and several have been called up for various international youth teams, including English quartet Max Alleyne, Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, Nico O’Reilly and Jacob Wright, who have all earned a place in the Three Lions under-20’s squad for the November fixtures at home to Germany and away to Poland.

The downside to that is City will be far weaker for the Lincoln game than they were for their matches earlier in the competition.

There will be opportunities for an even younger group to earn their stripes, but a tough learning curve is on the cards against Lincoln, who should secure the victory they are looking for.

Over 3.5 goals - 6/4

Manchester City’s senior team have been affected by the loss of a few players and their under-21s side could be set for a similarly negative experience.

Simpson-Pusey and Alleyne were City’s starting centre-backs for the 1-1 draw at Chesterfield in the opening fixture of their EFL Trophy campaign.

But neither will feature against the Imps and their absences could make life a fair bit easier for the home side.

City will do their best to fight fire with fire and may continue their record of scoring in every EFL Trophy match.

However, getting on the scoresheet may not be enough to avoid a high-scoring loss.

Lincoln to win 3-1 - 12/1

Lincoln are the lowest scorers among League One’s top six with 21 goals in 14 games.

However, they are a powerful, physical side and will look to utilise those qualities against a very youthful opponent.

Lincoln have scored three goals or more on just three occasions this season but they have every chance of cutting loose against the Citizens and are attractively priced 12/1 shots to secure a 3-1 success.

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Lincoln City v Manchester City U21 odds

Lincoln City - 8/13
Draw - 3/1
Manchester City U21 - 31/10

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.