- Home form: Bournemouth are unbeaten at home across all current competitions, W3, D2.
- Recent form: Lincoln City arrive with a clean sheet in their last two games, W1, D1.
- Away record: Lincoln City are a solid unit on the road, W5, D1, L1.
Lincoln will roll out a defensive game plan
Bournemouth are the strong favourites for Tuesday's EFL Cup 2026-2027 round three encounter with Lincoln City, with good reason, but the Imps' form so far this season suggests this tie may be a little closer than the market suggests.
The Cherries are unbeaten at the Vitality Stadium this term (W3, D2) while Lincoln arrive off the back of a 0-0 draw at Blackburn and a 1-0 away win at Bolton, so there may just be some momentum for the visitors to carry into this clash.
Bournemouth have been slightly up and down in recent matches, W1, D2, L2, and one of those draws was at home against Everton, where they were a little fortunate to get anything. Back-to-back 2-1 away defeats to Manchester City and Mainz also suggest The Cherries are vulnerable to the counterattack, which is exactly the kind of game plan that Lincoln boss Chris Cohen will be looking to deploy.
The Cherry and White army should control the territory
Recent form and odds
Bournemouth have won four, drawn four and lost two of their last ten matches in all contests, while Lincoln have won six, drawn two and lost just two of the same number of fixtures. The hosts should win this tie, and probably by a couple of goals, but the odds on the outright market make no appeal at 1.24, with the draw is coming in at 5.8.
Tactical outlook
- A more interesting way to skin this cat is to support Bournemouth to win and more than 2.5 goals, which seems a good fit for Marco Rose's high-tempo, high-pressing style of play.
- The Imps will sit back and keep things compact, so Bournemouth's wide full backs will have to be patient and make the runs while the rest of the team provides the numerical overloads in the middle third.
Bournemouth have a higher tempo and will dominate
Lincoln have been excellent on the road this term, with five wins, one draw and just one defeat in all competitions, and the evidence suggests they will be no pushover at Bournemouth, despite the gap in skill and reputation between the clubs. They have scored 2.00 goals per game and conceded just 0.86 per game away from home, which suggests they are a disciplined and well-organised outfit that don't win by overrunning opponents.
Bournemouth have been free-scoring at the other end of the field, however, hitting 21 goals at a rate of 4.20 per game at Vitality Stadium, so I feel comfortable supporting them to win on Tuesday, but I don't think the draw is completely out of the question.
