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The Blues face a trip to the Wirral on Saturday afternoon, 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.
Last season in League One the Whites defeated the Blues 2-0 on Boxing Day on the Wirral. A goal each in the first-half, in front of 8,516 spectators, from Paul McLaren and Antony Kay condemning United to a festive defeat.
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 Sam 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: | |||||
| 2008/2009 | Sat 04 Oct | Carlisle | 1 - 2 | Tranmere | LGE1 |
| 2007/2008 | We 26 Dec | Tranmere | 2 - 0 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 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 |
Recent respective form guides
Tranmere have lost just once in their last six home games, winning four and drawing the other one. A total of ten goals have been scored by Rovers in those games, with six conceded.
Carlisle have an average recent record on the road, with two wins, two draws, and two defeats. The Cumbrians have a narrow positive goal difference over these games with five goals for and only three against.
Tranmere's 37 points gained from 24 games played sees them lie inside the top half of the table, in tenth place. Carlisle meanwhile see themselves just below half-way in League One, in 14th, showing a record of 31 points from their 25 games contested to date.
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 | 6 | 8 | 7 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 10 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
This promises to be an excellent test for the in-form Cumbrians, but one which the Footymad panel believe will end in stalemate. No-score draw
| Sequence statistics | |
| Tranmere | Six games since last home draw. |
| Carlisle | Five games since last defeat. |