Linfield, who won their previous game, will hope for a similar result following a 1-2 Premiership success versus Crusaders.
For Linfield, the scorers were Joel Cooper (32\') and Daniel Finlayson (90\'). Jordan Owens (55\') scored for Crusaders.
Fixtures involving Linfield have tended to be lively ones of late with plenty of scoring the rule rather than the exception. Over their past six games, a grand total of 22 goals have flown in for both teams combined (at an average of 3.67 goals per game) with 17 of these being chalked up by Linfield.
Coming into this clash, Linfield are unbeaten in their last 2 home league matches.
Coleraine head into the game following on from a 2-1 Premiership win vs Glentoran in their most recent game.
The only scorer from Coleraine was Matthew Shevlin (55\', 70\'). Patrick McClean (77\') scored for Glentoran.
Oran Kearney\'s Coleraine have found the back of the net 8 times throughout their previous 6 matches. The total of goals that have been scored against them during that same period comes to 5.
Looking at the pre-match facts, Coleraine:
haven\'t beaten Linfield when having played them away from home in the previous 7 league games. Not good.
are undefeated in their last 2 league matches away from home.
Head to head
Checking on their most recent head-to-head meetings stretching back to 02/01/2023 shows us that Linfield have won 4 of these & Coleraine 1, with the number of draws standing at 1.
A combined sum of 13 goals were yielded between them in this period, with 8 of them from The Blues and 5 belonging to The Bannsiders. This gives an average number of goals per game equal to 2.17.
The previous league contest between these sides was Premiership match day 29 on 16/02/2024 when it ended Coleraine 3-0 Linfield.
The referee was Jamie Robinson.
Team News: Linfield
Ryan McKay (stomach problems), Stephen Fallon (Knock), Euan East (Hamstring injury) and Robbie McDaid (Achilles tendon rupture) are not available for Linfield manager David Healy.
Team News: Coleraine
Coleraine boss Oran Kearney has to contend with a number of unavailable players. Rodney Brown (Knock) and Adam Mullan (Fitness) are not ready for selection. Stephen Lowry will not be able to play in this game through being suspended.
Prediction
It looks to us like Coleraine will be up against it to break down a Linfield side who have the quality to dominate proceedings.
Our selection here is for a very comprehensive 3-0 margin for Linfield at full-time.
