Sheffield United will be expecting to make it into the third round of the EFL Cup by beating Lincoln City on Wednesday.

The visitors surprisingly made it to the fourth round of this competition last season, and they defeated Notts County in the opening round this time around.

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Sheff Utd, on the other hand, received a bye into the second round as a result of their promotion to the Premier League last season, and they will be hoping for another cup run after reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup in April.

The Blades were defeated by eventual champions Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in that competition, and they were on the wrong end of another loss to the Citizens at the weekend, with Rodri's late strike handing his side all three points after Jayden Bogle looked to have claimed a draw by equalising with only five minutes of normal time remaining.

Having lost all three of their opening league games by one goal, Paul Heckingbottom may have more positive thoughts than negative ones about his players' performances following a difficult summer transfer window, which has led many people to completely write off their chances of remaining in England's top flight at the end of the current campaign.

While that will clearly be an incredibly difficult task, the 46-year-old will view Wednesday's cup tie against League One opponents as an excellent opportunity to build confidence ahead of hosting potential relegation rivals Everton on Saturday.

Lincoln, meanwhile, have built on last season's solid 11th-placed finish in Mark Kennedy's first season at the club by claiming 10 points from their opening five games in England's third tier.

Indeed, only Oxford United have collected more points than them so far this season, meaning only goal difference is keeping them outside of the automatic promotion spots after their impressive 3-0 win against Blackpool on Saturday.

For the third time in their last four matches, the Imps managed to win alongside keeping a clean sheet, showcasing Kennedy's continued excellent work in terms of making them defensively stable after they posted the joint-fifth best defensive record in the division last time out.

Kennedy and his players will no doubt be hoping for another cup run after knocking out Championship side Bristol City to reach the fourth round of this competition last season, even if gaining promotion to the Championship for the first time in the club's history will clearly be their priority.

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As has often proven to be the case across the past 12 months, Sheff Utd are dealing with a host of injuries at present, with Ben Osborn's groin injury sustained against Man City on Sunday seeing him join Max Lowe, Anis Ben Slimane, John Fleck, Daniel Jebbison, Rhian Brewster and Rhys Norrington-Davies on the sidelines.

Heckingbottom will almost certainly ring the changes ahead of a crucial six-pointer against Everton less than 72 hours after this cup tie finishes, with the likes of Chris Basham, Oli McBurnie, Yasser Larouci and Bogle all set to start after appearing from the bench against Pep Guardiola's side.

Likewise, Kennedy could also make changes en masse with his side hoping to be involved at the top end of League One's table, with former Ipswich Town midfielder Teddy Bishop primed for a start after scoring from the bench at the weekend.

However, experienced defender Lewis Montsma remains out of action for them due to a long-term ACL injury.

Sheffield United possible starting lineup:
Davies; Bogle, Basham, Egan, Trusty, Larouci; Davies, Norwood, Coulibaly; Archer, McBurnie

Lincoln City possible starting lineup:
Wright; O'Connor, Mitchell, Brown; Eyoma, Bishop, Hamilton, Smith, Duffy; Walker, Mandroiu

We say: Sheffield United 2-0 Lincoln City

With both managers likely to make plenty of alterations to their lineups due to prioritising their league campaigns, the quality on display at Bramall Lane could be lacking at times on Wednesday evening.

However, with McBurnie and potential debutant Cameron Archer likely to combine in attack for the hosts, they should have enough about them to edge beyond their lower-ranked opponents.



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