Blackpool v Lincoln predictions: Playoff specialists can get the job done

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Blackpool v Lincoln in the League One playoff final on Sunday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Sky Sports Football, 3pm Sunday

Best bet

Blackpool
3pts 11-8 general

Team news

Blackpool
Marvin Ekpiteta could deputise in defence if Arsenal loanee Daniel Ballard is not passed fit. Sullay Kaikai is a doubt and Daniel Gretarsson is sidelined.

Lincoln
Joe Walsh is pushing for a start at the back but Adam Jackson is likely to be fit enough only for the bench.

Match preview

Blackpool are the most successful club in the history of the EFL playoffs and they can gild their impressive record by beating League One rivals Lincoln at Wembley.

The Tangerines are preparing for their eighth playoff final, the sixth in the past 20 years, and they have won five of the previous seven.

Brett Ormerod scored the winner in a 3-2 win over Cardiff to take the Seasiders to the Premier League in 2010 but just seven seasons later they found themselves in the League Two playoff final, beating Exeter 2-1 to return to the third tier.

There was an unfamiliar look to the Tangerines at the start of this season after a hectic summer of transfer ins and outs and, understandably, it took time for the new arrivals to bed in.

However, after an outstanding second half of the campaign, Blackpool finished third in League One, winning their last four matches without conceding a goal.

Neil Critchley's men had the best defensive record in the division, conceding only 37 goals in 46 regular-season games, and they showed their attacking bite in the playoff semi-final, beating in-form Oxford 6-3 on aggregate having won the first leg 3-0 away from home.

While Blackpool finished the campaign strongly after a slow start, Lincoln blasted out of the traps and were in the hunt for automatic promotion for much of the season.

The Imps hit a damaging flat spot during February, March and April when they won only twice in 13 games culminating in a 2-2 draw with Blackpool.

Michael Appleton's men scored two late goals to earn a point that day and their comeback sparked a revival which saw them win four of their next five matches, all against bottom-half opponents, on their way to fifth place in the league.

Lincoln came through their playoff semi-final against Sunderland 3-2 on aggregate but that was arguably an easier tie than Blackpool faced against Oxford.

The Black Cats, never knowingly underrated by bookmakers, had won only one of their last nine regular-season matches including a pair of 1-0 defeats against Blackpool.

The Tangerines also completed a league double over runners-up Peterborough and took four points out of six against champions Hull so they have proven form against the best teams in the division.

Lincoln, in contrast, had an underwhelming record against the rest of the top six despite scoring two late goals to win 3-2 at Blackpool in October after the hosts had been reduced to ten men.

That was the Imps' only win in eight games against the sides above them and they also lost 2-1 at sixth-placed Oxford in March and 3-1 at seventh-placed Charlton earlier this month.

Blackpool hope Arsenal loanee Daniel Ballard will be passed fit to take his place in a settled defensive unit who have kept seven clean sheets in their last ten games.

In-form strikers Jerry Yates, the club's top scorer with 23 goals, and Everton loanee Ellis Simms, who has notched ten times in just 19 starts, pose a serious threat to Lincoln's defence and the playoff specialists should get the job done in 90 minutes.

Key stat

Blackpool have lost only two of their last 24 matches.

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