The League Two play-offs produced goals galore last season with both semi-finals finishing 6-5 on aggregate, and neither Danny Cowley nor Paul Tisdale appear to be shying away from more of the same this weekend. Both managers seem determined to impose their best attacking game on the opposition, which could be spectacular if both succeed considering the contrast in styles.
Lincoln are direct and physical, or "functional" as Cowley likes to call it. They use the bruising Matt Rhead as a focal point, and sometimes throw in the equally-unsettling Ollie Palmer for good measure, with as many as five different players instructed to bomb forward and feed off the knock-downs. But who joins the attack and when is a secret only they know.
Exeter are cultured and precise, a performance-driven team who like to keep the ball on the deck and change system from week to week, depending on the opposition and their best guess of the optimum passing lanes. For them, it's all about the process and results generally take care of themselves, an approach not always suited the cut-throat nature of knockout football.
With so much at stake, it's anything but a foregone conclusion that goals will materialise. Both teams are competent defensively. Individually, the Exeter players will be doing everything in their power to deal with every ball into the box and ditto the Lincoln players when it comes to slide-rule passes through the channels.
But collectively, neither camp sounds prepared to make too many tactical sacrifices and based on that promise alone, there’s mileage in playing over 3.5 goals and over 4.5 goals at 5/2 and 7/1 respectively. Given the potential enjoyment to be had in cheering on a goalfest, you’d much sooner be on those lines than under 1.5 goals and 0-0 at similar prices.
Recommended bets:
1pt Over 3.5 goals at 14/5
1pt Over 4.5 goals at 7/1