After a first home point of the season, there is a quick turnaround at the ProAmpac Stadium as City welcome Southampton on Saturday 5 September (12:30pm KO).
Read all the pre-match thoughts of both Chris Cohen and versatile midfielder, Dom Jefferies, as well as all the key stats and information.
Opposition Information
Tonda Eckert’s side have started the season with a mixed bag of results, so far registering two wins, a draw and a loss with an impressive 10 goals, the second most in the division behind only Wolverhampton Wanderers. Their home form remains unblotched with two wins from two games beating Stoke City 3-1 and most recently dispatching five past Millwall in a 5-1 success at St Mary’s. However, their away form still leaves something to be desired with a 2-1 loss to Watford on opening day before drawing 1-1 against Birmingham City in their most recent fixture.
With the transfer window now closed, the Saints managed to bring in a total of eight new additions to their squad and included in that is German defender, Keven Schlotterbeck. The name might sound familiar as he is the brother of Borussia Dortmund centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck, but Keven moves to Hampshire from Augsburg after two seasons in the Bundesliga. He has quickly enamoured the fans by scoring the opening goal in the 1-1 draw against Birmingham City in what was just his second Sky Bet Championship appearance.
The man in form so far this season has been Cyle Larin, he too has made the move to the Saints over the summer after making last season’s loan deal a permanent one from Spanish side, Mallorca. After scoring nine goals last season, Larin was selected by Jesse Marsch for Canada’s World Cup squad where he scored twice and since returning from the competition in North America, he has scored five goals in six competitive fixtures including a brace in the 5-1 success over Millwall.
Chris Cohen said: “These are the types of games that we’ve all been desperate for, another sellout at Sincil Bank, I’m sure will create an atmosphere that gives us an opportunity to put in a performance that the fans can be proud of. In the space of four days, we’re playing two teams that’s recently been in the Premier League.”
Two Deadline Day deals!
It was a busy day for the Imps on September 1 with two deals getting over the line before the 11pm deadline. The first of those was Dan Oyegoke, the 23-year-old joined City from Italian outfit, Hellas Verona but before making the move to Northern Italy, he played for clubs such as Hearts, Bradford City and MK Dons after coming through the Arsenal youth setup. The second signing was the loan deal for Chieo Ogbene, the 29-year-old Irish forward joins until January from newly promoted Premier League side Ipswich Town. He also has a full topflight season under his belt with Luton Town in 2023/24, Chris Cohen spoke about how happy he is to have both Dan and Chieo on board.
Chris Cohen said: “Bringing Daniel in is obviously an important signing for us, he’s a competitive player who played at the top-level last year and was impressive. He’s also a young man who we know we can develop as well and help him grow as a player and as a person, so we’re really excited to see what he brings.”
He added: “Chieo will bring a wealth of experience, he has a really good reading of a football game as well. It’s not just the physicality he brings but also the wealth of experience and some other attributes that will help the squad.”
Dom Jefferies’ Thoughts
Dom Jefferies has started every Sky Bet Championship game for the Imps so far as well as starting in the Carabao Cup first round against Derby County where he netted City’s second. He also played a big part in the conclusion of the title-winning campaign after being sidelined during the early parts after a double hip surgery. He ended up scoring twice and assisting a further two in aiding the team to earn their place in the Sky Bet Championship. He spoke ahead of the clash with the Saints and the challenge that brings.
Jefferies said: “I think it’s a positive start, we’ve played some big teams and obviously the first game of the season was one of the biggest tests we’re going to come up against all year and we held our own and were even on top for parts of the game.
“Southampton are a great club and a great test and it’s what we all dream of, playing in games like this on a big occasion against a good opposition but as we’ve shown so far, against sides like Middlesbrough, we can hold our own and give a good game so we’re confident going into it.”
H2H
The last meeting between these two in Lincolnshire was in November 1996 in a Carabao Cup third round replay and despite taking a 1-0 lead after nine minutes, City went on to lose the game 3-1. It was Gareth Ainsworth who opened the scoring for the Imps that day before Jim Magilton scored an equalising penalty on the 75-minute mark and then a Gordon Watson goal after 84 minutes gave the Saints the lead with Eyal Berkovic sealing the game with a third right at the death.
The first meeting between these two sides came in 1932, almost exactly 94 years ago when City emerged as 1-0 victors in the Division Two contest. The goalscorer that day for the Imps was legendary pre-war forward Allan Hall who ended the 1932/33 campaign with 23 goals which is impressive but not as impressive as his 1931/32 goals total which finished at 45 throughout the duration of the season.
Match Information
For the third time in a week, City will wear the 2026/27 home kit as the Saints come to Lincolnshire - get yours HERE.
The referee for Saturday’s fixture will be the experienced Andrew Kitchen, and he will be aided by Darren Williams and Callum Gough from either sideline or the fourth official for the afternoon will be Ben Toner.
Legendary broadcaster, John Helm will be joined by Chris Laming to provide Imps+ commentary - check out your streaming options HERE.
Last few tickets - HERE
