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The Blues face a trip to the Wirral on Boxing Day, needing to turn around their overall fortunes at Prenton Park. United hoping to improve on a record which has seen them end up on the losing side in over half the games played.
The most recent encounter between the two sides was last season in March 2007 as the Cumbrians ran out 2-0 winners in a League One match. Danny Graham in the tenth minute and Kevin Gall after 67 minutes scoring the goals for a United side that ended the game one man short after Paul Thirlwell was sent off for a poorly timed challenge on Tranmere's Calvin Zola seven minutes from time.
Carlisle have endured some heavy defeats on the Wirral over the years, the Blues having been hammered 6-1 on three occasions. The last time United were thumped by that scoreline was in the 2001-02 season in the second round of the FA Cup. Tranmere were already 3-0 up on 17 minutes through a Jason Koumas brace and a goal from Jason Price before Ian Stevens missed a penalty and Will McDonagh was sent off on his debut for two bookings as the Blues compounded their own misery.
That was rubbed in even further bang on the half-time whistle when Koumas completed his hat-trick with a long-range rasper. Stuart Barlow's penalty for Rovers on 70 minutes made the score 5-0 before Richie Foran grabbed what could loosely be called a consolation goal for Carlisle just sixty seconds later. In front of an attendance of 7,428 fans though the home side had the final word in the 76th minute when Stephen Yates completed the 6-1 rout.
United's best margin of victory at Prenton Park has twice been by a scoreline of 3-0, once in Division Four in 1961-62 and once in Division Three North in 1947-48. The most memorable of those seasons was the promotion campaign in the early 60's as the Blues finished fourth in the old Division Four. Carlisle's win away to Rovers in early October coming thanks to a George Walker brace and a goal from Samuel Taylor as 10,050 spectators looked on.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2007/2008 | Sat 08 Sep | Carlisle | 0 - 1 | Tranmere | LGE1 |
| 2006/2007 | Fri 30 Mar | Tranmere | 0 - 2 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 2006/2007 | Sat 21 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Tranmere | LGE1 |
| 2005/2006 | Tue 20 Dec | Tranmere | 0 - 0 | Carlisle | ASSM |
| 2001/2002 | Sat 08 Dec | Tranmere | 6 - 1 | Carlisle | FAC |
| 1998/1999 | Tue 18 Aug | Carlisle | 0 - 1 | Tranmere | LGEC |
| 1998/1999 | Tue 11 Aug | Tranmere | 3 - 0 | Carlisle | LGEC |
Recent respective form guides
Tranmere have not in the best of form at home lately, with two wins, two draws, and two defeats in their last six matches at Prenton Park. Those games seeing Rovers score seven goals and only concede four.
Carlisle have an average recent record on the road recently, collecting one win and three draws from their last six games played away from Brunton Park. The Cumbrians have scored six goals in that set of matches and have let seven in at the wrong end.
Tranmere's 28 points from their 21 matches played sees them lie just inside the top half of the League One table in 12th place. Carlisle meanwhile, with two games in hand on some opponents, are one point outside the automatic promotion places, in fourth, having taken 36 points from 19 games.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Last six games form guide | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Tranmere | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 7 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
Not a lot has been going right generally for Carlisle on their travels as of late, but the Footymad panel can certainly see them gleaning a point from their game against Tranmere Score draw
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Tranmere | Five games since last home draw. Not won in the two most recent matches. |
| Carlisle | Five games since last defeat. Not won in previous four away matches. Previous two away games have finished all-square. |