Latics welcome Carlisle United to Boundary Park for a crucial clash in Sky Bet League Two (3pm KO).
Oldham retained their unbeaten run under John Sheridan last time out as they picked up a point in a 2-2 draw at the People’s Pension Stadium against Crawley Town.
Despite remaining in the bottom two, for the time being, Latics know that they are still well in the mix and can leapfrog a number of teams with their games in hand.
Form Guide
Carlisle come into the clash on a much-improved run of form that has heavily boosted their chances of remaining in the EFL.
Back-to-back wins without conceding against Leyton Orient and Rochdale have taken United out of the bottom two.
Similarly to Oldham and John Sheridan, the Cumbrians have been boosted by the return of a club favourite Paul Simpson to the dugout.
Prior to these two wins, Carlisle had gone eight games in League Two without a win, losing five of these fixtures.
United sit in 19th position in the table, four places ahead of Oldham. However, a win for Sheridan’s side will see them overtake Carlisle in the league table which highlights just how tight the bottom end of the table is at present.
The Cumbrians’ Last Six:
- Carlisle United 2-0 Rochdale
- Leyton Orient 0-1 Carlisle United
- Carlisle United 0-3 Swindon Town
- Colchester Untied 2-2 Carlisle United
- Carlisle United 1-3 Port Vale
- Salford City 2-1 Carlisle United
Head-to-Head
Meetings: 88
Latics wins: 29
Carlisle United wins: 37
Draws: 22
Latics are unbeaten in their last five meetings with the Cumbrians, a run that they will be looking to extend this weekend.
When they met earlier this campaign at Brunton Park, the points ended up being shared as the two teams played out a goalless draw.
In the previous season, Latics took four points from a possible six against United. They won 3-1 in the away fixture whilst it finished 1-1 at Boundary Park.
The last time Carlisle got the better of Oldham was back in September 2019. The 1-0 win at Brunton Park saw them make it five wins in a row for them in that fixture including a 6-0 thrashing in December 2018.
Watch Out For
Omari Patrick has been a big part of United’s recent resurgence, netting in both of their last two games.
Patrick scored an early winner in the Orient clash whilst also getting the opener in the 2-0 win over Rochdale.
This makes his tally for his previous five games an impressive three goals.
The Slough-born forward is in his second spell as a Carlisle player. He initially joined in January 2020 but he left for Burton Albion in the summer of 2021.
However, his time at the Pirelli Stadium proved to be short-lived and he returned back to Cumbria on the 6th of January of this year.
He has proven himself to be a crucial part of their hopes to remain in the division, with five goals in his 11 games played so far.
Familiar Face
Lewis Alessandra began his senior career at Boundary Park.
Graduating through the youth system at the club, Alessandra went on to appear over 50 times for Latics.
Upon leaving Oldham, the 33-year-old had spells with Morecambe, Plymouth Argyle, York City, Hartlepool United and Notts County.
More recently, he has had another spell with Morecambe where he remained until his most recent transfer to Carlisle United in January 2020.
In The Dugout
Carlisle local lad Paul Simpson is the man in the dugout for the visitors.
This is the second spell Simpson has had with the Cumbrians, the first saw him pull off the remarkable achievement of back-to-back promotions which took them from the Conference to Sky Bet League One.
He has also managed Preston North End, Shrewsbury Town, Stockport County and Northwich Victoria as well as being a part of Steve McClaren’s backroom staff at both Derby County and Newcastle United.
Carlisle are also one of the teams that Simpson represented during his playing career.
Match Officials
The official in the middle for the game is Sam Allison.
Allison last officiated a Latics game in March 2021 for our 1-1 draw away at Scunthorpe United. On that day, he handed out four yellow cards and zero red cards.
He's taken charge of 24 games, so far, this campaign, handing out a total of 94 yellow cards and six red cards.
Allison will be assisted by Ivan Stankovic and Anthony Moore, with Tom Reeves as the Fourth Official.
Sky Bet Odds
Latics are the bookmakers’ favourites for the match, priced at 11/10.
The Cumbrians are 12/5 to gain their third successive win whilst a third straight draw for Oldham is 9/4.
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How To Follow The Game
Live commentary is available on iFollow Latics with Roy Butterworth and Michael Brown who will be talking you through the match action.
Unfortunately, an iFollow match pass stream isn't available in the UK due to the 3pm blackout from broadcasters.
For more information, visit the iFollow Latics page by clicking here.
Alternatively, supporters can also follow the game with live updates on the club's official Twitter account: @OfficialOAFC.