Sport
Preview: Lincoln City vs. Morecambe – prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday’s FA Cup clash between Lincoln City and Morecambe, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
League One side Lincoln City welcome League Two outfit Morecambe to Sincil Bank for an FA Cup first-round tie on Saturday afternoon.
The Imps and the Shrimps face off in the FA Cup for the first time since the former secured a 1-0 first-round victory back in 1976-77....Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Match preview
© Reuters
Following the dismissal of manager Mark Kennedy in mid-October, caretaker boss Tom Shaw has accumulated seven points across four League One matches in charge of Lincoln, although the Imps have failed to win their last two games.
Indeed, a 1-1 draw with Exeter City last weekend was followed by a 2-0 home defeat against Oxford United on Tuesday, with a Ciaron Brown opener and an own goal from Lukas Jensen condemning the Imps to their fifth league loss of the season.
Lincoln have subsequently slipped to ninth in the table, four points behind the playoffs, but they will now take a break from third-tier action and prepare for back-to-back home cup ties against League Two opposition, with Saturday’s FA Cup clash versus Morecambe taking place three days before an EFL Trophy contest with Notts County.
Imps supporters will reminisce about their impressive run to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 2016-17 as a non-league club, but since becoming an EFL side, they have only progressed beyond the second round once in the last six years.
Lincoln will fancy their chances of advancing from round one on Saturday as they have won eight of their last 10 FA Cup ties at Sincil Bank, although they did lose 1-0 to Hartlepool in their most recent home tie in December 2021 – not since November 1966 have the Imps lost back-to-back FA Cup home games.
© Reuters
Morecambe’s impressive eight-game unbeaten run, including five straight wins, across all competitions came to an end following a narrow 1-0 away defeat against Barrow in League Two on Halloween.
After scoring a total of 19 goals across their eight-match unbeaten streak, the Shrimps failed to register a single shot on target against the Bluebirds as Dom Telford netted the only goal of the game just before the hour mark to help the hosts claim all three points.
Morecambe have slipped to sixth in the League Two standings, but they remain in the playoffs and are only three points behind Notts County in second place with a game in hand.
Derek Adams’s side have swiftly turned their attention to the FA Cup and the Shrimps boss has aspirations of enjoying a good run in the FA Cup this season as they endeavour to earn a glamour tie with a Premier League club.
Morecambe enter Saturday’s contest with Lincoln having failed to progress from an FA Cup tie against a team from a higher division in each of their previous 10 attempts, including last season’s first-round exit at the hands of Sheffield Wednesday.
However, the Shrimps got the better of Lincoln in their most recent meeting when both sides were competing in League One last season – securing a 3-2 home victory in April courtesy of goals from Cole Stockton (2) and Oumar Niasse.
Lincoln City form (all competitions):
Morecambe form (all competitions):
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Team News
Lincoln will be without Ben House, Tyler Walker, Lewis Montsma and Reeco Hackett as they all continue to recover from injury.
Jack Vale was handed his first start of the season in midweek and the Blackburn Rovers loanee could retain his place up front, although Hakeeb Adelakun – who has four goals to his name this term – will be hoping to force his way back into the first XI after beginning on the substitutes’ bench against Oxford.
Ever-present midfield duo Ethan Erhahon and Ethan Hamilton are set to link arms again in the middle of the pitch, while Alex Mitchell, Adam Jackson and Paudie O’Connor could all keep their places in the back three.
As for Morecambe, goalkeeper Stuart Moore has been ruled out for between 14 and 16 weeks after undergoing successful surgery on an injury in midweek, while Jake Taylor is also facing a lengthy period in the treatment room.
Chris Stokes will be assessed ahead of kickoff after missing the midweek defeat to Barrow, while Donald Love and Eli King will both be pushing to start after recovering from injury to make substitute outings last time out.
Michael Mellon has been in fine form so far this season, scoring 10 goals in 16 appearances, and the 19-year-old is expected to lead the line on Saturday.
Lincoln City possible starting lineup:Jensen; A. Mitchell, Jackson, O’Connor; Burroughs, Hamilton, Erhahon, Roughan; Sorensen, Adelakun, Mandroiu
Morecambe possible starting lineup:Smith; Love, Rawson, Bedeau, Senior; Songo’o, King; Bloxham, McKiernan, Slew; Mellon
We say: Lincoln City 2-1 Morecambe
A total of 10 goals were scored across three meetings between Lincoln and Morecambe last season, with both teams netting on each occasion, and there could be plenty of goalmouth action once again this weekend.
Despite their midweek defeat, the Shrimps remain in high spirts heading to Sincil Bank and will fancy their chances of coming out on top against the Imps, but we believe that the hosts will do enough to avoid a cup upset and progress to the second round.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:data
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Sport
Martin Odegaard was back to his best vs Wolves

...Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard was back to his best during the 2-1 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Saturday.
The Gunners made it three league wins on the bounce after beating Wolves at the Emirates Stadium. Bukayo Saka opened the scoring in the sixth minute.
A wonderful bit of team play contributed to Odegaard doubling the lead in the 13th minute.
Arsenal should have been out of sight with the chances in the final third, but they had a nervy finish in the end after Matheus Cunha scored, four minutes from time.
A defensive mishap from Oleksandr Zinchenko paved the way for the goal, but the Gunners managed to hang on for a well-deserved victory over Gary O’Neil’s side.
In our view, Odegaard was clearly the man of the match with one of his best performances of the season.
The Norwegian was inconsistent with his form earlier this campaign, but he appears to be finding his feet at the right time for the Gunners in their title pursuit.
Against Wolves, he had 97 touches with 77 passes at an accuracy of 89 per cent. He had no defensive work to do, but was brilliant with his attacking display.
Odegaard managed six key passes and created three big chances for Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard and Eddie Nketiah respectively, but they failed to extend the lead.
The Gunners should have been out of sight with at least a five-goal margin, but they were made to work hard for the victory after a late consolation strike from Cunha.
The win over Wolves has seen the club extend their lead at the top of the table to four points.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com & Sofascore.com
Sport
Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic crowned Next Gen ATP Finals champion

Twenty-year-old Serbian sixth seed Hamad Medjedovic is crowned the Next Gen ATP Finals champion with a captivating victory over Arthur Fils in Sunday’s final.
Twenty-year-old Serbian sixth seed Hamad Medjedovic was crowned the Next Gen ATP Finals champion with a captivating victory over Arthur Fils in Sunday’s final.
Emulating the feats of his compatriot Novak Djokovic in November’s ATP Finals, Medjedovic brought home another trophy to Serbia with a 3–4[6], 4–1, 4–2, 3–4 [9], 4–1 victory in just after two hours.
Medjedovic’s success caps off a stellar breakthrough year for the 2003-born protege, who reached the first round of Wimbledon and the French Open for the first time in 2023 and came close to breaking into the top 100, getting as high as world number 102 in October....Click Here To Continue Reading>>
“I can’t believe I have won this title, but it’s going to give me a lot of confidence for 2024. Arthur is an amazing player; he’s Top 40 for a reason, so I’m really happy,” Medjedovic said on the court.
“It was tough after the first set. I changed my clothes and recovered and started to play good again. I didn’t play good when I had match points in the fourth set. I wasn’t relaxed, I was very stiff. Thank God I recovered and I was just trying to stay relaxed as much as I could and I managed to do it in the end.”
2023 ATP Finals Champion: Novak Djokovic 🇷🇸2023 Next Gen ATP Finals Champion: Hamad Medjedovic 🇷🇸Learning from the best 👀 pic.twitter.com/ie284rcZ3M— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) December 2, 2023
Making a name for himself throughout the tournament with his blistering serves, the Serbian fired 19 aces past Fils throughout the contest and won 88% of points behind his first serve in total.
Medjedovic also kept his mistakes to a minimum, only producing nine unforced errors and 32 winners, as well as saving all four break points he faced against his French foe.
The 20-year-old recovered from a couple of early unforced errors in the fourth-set tie-breaker to bring up two match points, although he failed to take either of them as Fils took the contest to the distance.
However, an inopportune unforced error from Fils on break point allowed Medjedovic to establish an early two-game lead in the fifth set, and the Serbian quintessentially confirmed his champion status with an ace on match point.
Alongside his Next Gen supremacy, Medjedovic also took home three Challenger level titles in the 2023 season, as well as getting to the semi-finals of the Astana Open and Swiss Open on the ATP Tour.
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Sport
Team News: Barcelona vs. Atletico Madrid injury, suspension list, predicted XIs
Sports Mole rounds up all of the latest injury and suspension news ahead of Sunday’s La Liga clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona will be aiming to return to winning ways in La Liga when they host Atletico Madrid on Sunday night.
Xavi’s side are currently fourth in the table, level on points (31) with third-placed Atletico ahead of this weekend’s huge fixture, and here Sports Mole rounds up the team news....Click Here To Continue Reading>>
© Reuters
BARCELONA
Out: Gavi (knee), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (back)
Doubtful: None
Sports Mole’s predicted XI: Pena; Araujo, Kounde, I Martinez, Cancelo; Pedri, Gundogan, De Jong; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Felix
ATLETICO MADRID
Out: Pablo Barrios (knee), Thomas Lemar (Achilles), Vitolo (knee)
Doubtful: None
Sports Mole’s predicted XI: Oblak; Gimenez, Witsel, Hermoso; Molina, De Paul, Saul, Koke, Riquelme; Morata, Griezmann
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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