Carlisle are back on the road this week as they take on league leaders Rochdale in what could be a spectacular clash at the top. It’s third vs first, Blues vs Dale, and McNulty vs Hughes; this is the match preview.
How are Both Teams Doing?
Carlisle United: The Blues ended their three-game winless run in which they lost twice and drew the other. The win, however, divided opinions on Saturday. Despite the Cumbrians netting three goals past Altrincham, the main or common denominator of the discussion was how boring the game was.
Carlisle punctured the opposition with three quick-fire goals only within the space of eight minutes (26-34), with Knowles for the travelling side pulling one back in the 69th minute, but for much of the game it felt very much side to side, with loose balls here and there, and had many saying, “If they were any good, they’d be a few up.” Now when playing a team in not-so-great form, you don’t necessarily need to up a gear that much, even if the game is rather flat, but nonetheless, a win is a win, and you can’t grumble at three points.
Rochdale: Well, Dale are exceptional under the guidance of the 45-year-old Jimmy McNulty. Only eighteen goals conceded this season is phenomenal work – truly the toughest defence Carlisle will come up against for a long time. Dale, of course, won midweek, another impressive game by the Greater Manchester side, battering Boreham Wood four goals to one. Dale are currently on a five-game winning run and have only lost twice at home this season and sit eight points clear of Carlisle and will be hoping to make that eleven by five pm tomorrow afternoon.
Last Meeting and Prediction
Well, there’s no point dwelling on the last meeting between the two sides. Emmanuel Dieseruvwe got both goals at Brunton Park to give the visitors an impressive and, let’s be honest, easy victory on their trip all the way up north.
Well, I’m sorry to say, but I’m in the Dale camp for this one. Hughes still, it seems, hasn’t managed to find the next gear with the team, and I just can’t see us pulling off a great win, and I’m going for a two-to-nought defeat, but that’s my head talking. My heart tells me that super Charlie Wyke is back on his redemption story and will grab a beautiful hat trick, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, eh?
Blues News
All January we added an Arrivals and Departures section to the weekly round-up of Blues News, and to be honest, it felt like the terminals were closed just after one week; however, there has been a late arrival. Young striker Hugh Parker from Hull City, the 19-year-old, was announced late Thursday night to have put pen to paper on a one-month loan deal.
Mark Hughes celebrated the one-year anniversary of his appointment by Carlisle this week but had to make it clear he wasn’t going anywhere despite links to the vacant Blackburn manager job.
Carlisle United were beaten by two goals to one midweek by [Kirkoswald FC](http://kirkoswald fc) in the Cumberland Cup. Congrats, Kirkoswald!
Seb Mason signed his first ever professional contract for the Blues and has gone on loan to [Queen Of The South.](http://queen of the south) Good luck to Seb.
The club announced another ticket promotion push called “Raise the Roof”; you can buy tickets by clicking Raise the Roof.
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James Denwood
Writer covering Carlisle United and the National League Follow @james_cufc2000 on X for more views