On Sunday, Mark Hughes takes his Carlisle United side to Hertfordshire to take on Luke Garrard’s high flying Boreham Wood.
Both sides have had identical seasons so far and are in third and fifth place with two points separating the two sides.
How Have Both Teams Been Performing?
Boreham Wood have won eight of their last ten games in all competitions. Garrard’s side were promoted last season and have been flying since their return to the National League. The Wood have been carrying their great league form in to the FA Cup as well and are through to the third round.
Last time out Boreham Wood were beating at home on penalties by Brackley Town in the FA Trophy.
The Cumbrians were unbeaten in eleven games from September until November but they then lost back to back games to Blackpool in the FA Cup and Woking in the National League. Mark Hughes’ side are third in the league but level on points with the two sides above them.
Last time out Carlisle beat Harborough Town 2-1 away from home in the FA Trophy.
Previous Meeting
In the reverse fixture back in August the two sides played out a very entertaining 3-3 draw at Brunton Park. Luke Norris gave Boreham Wood the lead in the first half before two quick fire goals from Georgie Kelly and Regan Linney turned the game on its head. Regan Linney then got his second and the Cumbrians’ third of the game to seemingly put the blues out of sight. The game then turned on its head again thanks to another goal from Luke Norris and a late equaliser from Charlie O’Connell to earn The Wood a deserved draw.
My Predicted Carlisle United Starting Eleven
Breeze, Davies, Feeney, Mugabi, Harper, Macadam, Gilliead, Conn-Clarke, Wearne, Linney, Kelly.
With Boreham Wood being a huge attacking threat and having great home form I think Hughes may go narrow and tough to break down in this one. Keep it tight and hit on the break with the pace of Linney and then Williams off the bench in the second half would be the order of the day for me.
This will be a very tough game where we can’t afford any defensive mistakes like we’ve seen in recent weeks. Boreham Wood have plenty of players that can hurt us such as Erico Sousa, Zak Brunt, Matt Rush, Abdul Abdulmalik and Luke Norris.
My Score Prediction
Boreham Wood 3-2 Carlisle United
I’m expecting another entertaining game like the reverse fixture but Boreham Wood are flying and scoring lots of goals and I expect Carlisle’s defence to struggle to contain them. First goal is key given the confidence of both teams.
If the Carlisle defence can get to grips with the Boreham Wood attack early on that could set the tone for the rest of the match and give the forwards confidence to get forward and cause problems of their own.
Sadly I think we may come up just short in a very difficult game.
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