Carrick Rangers host Linfield in the Northern Ireland Premiership. Linfield have been winning regularly this season, while Carrick Rangers have had a much rockier few weeks.
Kickoff here is still a few weeks away, so there's time for things to shift before matchday. Even so, the early gap between these two sides already stands out.
Analysis updated .
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Form heading in opposite directions
Linfield have won six of their last eight league games, with the only blip a 0-3 defeat away to Ballymena United back in August. That run includes a 1-0 win over Carrick Rangers themselves earlier this month.
Carrick Rangers: 20 completed matches; Linfield: 20 completed matches.
Carrick Rangers
- Win
- 50% 10 / 20
- Draw
- 10% 2 / 20
- Loss
- 40% 8 / 20
- Scored
- 44
- Conceded
- 32
- Difference
- +12
Linfield
- Win
- 50% 10 / 20
- Draw
- 10% 2 / 20
- Loss
- 40% 8 / 20
- Scored
- 28
- Conceded
- 25
- Difference
- +3
| League | Home | Away | Date | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premiership | Glentoran | Carrick Rangers | 26.09.2026 | 2-0 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Larne | 19.09.2026 | 2-5 |
| Premiership | Ballymena United | Carrick Rangers | 15.09.2026 | 1-1 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Cliftonville FC | 12.09.2026 | 1-3 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Carrick Rangers | 05.09.2026 | 1-0 |
| Premiership | Bangor | Carrick Rangers | 29.08.2026 | 0-4 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Coleraine FC | 22.08.2026 | 0-2 |
| Premiership | Limavady United | Carrick Rangers | 15.08.2026 | 1-2 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Portadown | 08.08.2026 | 1-0 |
| Friendlies Clubs | Ballyclare Comrades | Carrick Rangers | 01.08.2026 | 1-8 |
| League | Home | Away | Date | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premiership | Coleraine FC | Linfield | 25.09.2026 | 1-3 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Crusaders FC | 19.09.2026 | 1-0 |
| Premiership | Portadown | Linfield | 15.09.2026 | 1-1 |
| Premiership | Dungannon Swifts | Linfield | 12.09.2026 | 0-1 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Carrick Rangers | 05.09.2026 | 1-0 |
| Premiership | Limavady United | Linfield | 29.08.2026 | 0-2 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Cliftonville FC | 21.08.2026 | 1-0 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Glentoran | 15.08.2026 | 2-1 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Ballymena United | 08.08.2026 | 0-3 |
| Friendlies Clubs | Dollingstown | Linfield | 28.07.2026 | 1-7 |
Carrick Rangers have gone the other way. They've lost three of their last four league outings, including a heavy 2-5 home defeat to Larne, with just one win and a draw mixed in across that same eight-game stretch.
That form swing has opened up a real gap between the two sides heading into this one.
Comparative Team Statistics: Carrick Rangers vs Linfield
A closer head-to-head than the history suggests
These two have already met three times this season. Carrick Rangers won 2-0 at home in March, the sides drew 0-0 in January, and Linfield won the return fixture 1-0 in September.
| League | Home | Away | Date | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premiership | Linfield | Carrick Rangers | 05.09.2026 | 1-0 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Linfield | 20.03.2026 | 2-0 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Linfield | 13.01.2026 | 0-0 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Carrick Rangers | 29.11.2025 | 3-1 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Carrick Rangers | 11.01.2025 | 3-0 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Linfield | 03.11.2024 | 1-3 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Carrick Rangers | 21.09.2024 | 1-0 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Linfield | 02.04.2024 | 2-3 |
| Premiership | Carrick Rangers | Linfield | 13.10.2023 | 1-2 |
| Premiership | Linfield | Carrick Rangers | 26.08.2023 | 3-3 |
Zoom out further and Linfield have generally had the upper hand over the years, with some big wins in past seasons. But that March result is a reminder Carrick can trouble them on their own patch.
The head-to-head picture is tighter than Linfield's overall record might imply.
League table snapshot
Linfield currently sit second with 19 points from eight games, six wins and just one defeat. Carrick Rangers are down in eighth on 10 points, having already lost four times.
| № | Team | Played | Win | Draw | Loss | GF/GA | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Coleraine FC | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 19/8 | 22 |
| 2 | Linfield | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 12/6 | 22 |
| 3 | Larne | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12/3 | 16 |
| 7 | Cliftonville FC | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 12/11 | 12 |
| 8 | Carrick Rangers | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 11/15 | 10 |
| 9 | Ballymena United | 8 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 12/11 | 9 |
That's a nine-point gap between the two clubs shown here, though this is only a partial view of the table rather than the full division.
It's a clear early-season gap, even without seeing where every other side stands.
Team news
Carrick Rangers are without C. Stewart for this fixture, listed as missing following an operation. That's the only confirmed absence we have on file, so it doesn't tell us much about the rest of either squad.
Squad lists and player details
Squad and player details
| Name | Country | Age | Position | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P. Heatley | Northern Ireland | 39 | Attacker | n/a | n/a |
| A. Mitchell | Northern Ireland | 34 | Midfielder | 180 cm | n/a |
| K. Cherry | Northern Ireland | 33 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| E. McGuckin | Northern Ireland | 35 | Attacker | n/a | n/a |
| C. Allen | Northern Ireland | 38 | Attacker | 180 cm | n/a |
| N. Maciulaitis | Lithuania | 27 | Attacker | n/a | n/a |
| R. Kalla | Northern Ireland | 23 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| D. Purkis | Northern Ireland | 31 | Attacker | n/a | n/a |
| L. Mackinnon | Northern Ireland | 23 | Defender | n/a | n/a |
| J. Andrews | Northern Ireland | 22 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| W. Arnold | Australia | 22 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| S. Graham | Northern Ireland | 22 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| J. Withers | Northern Ireland | 21 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| P. O'Prey | Northern Ireland | 22 | Attacker | n/a | n/a |
| C. Mills | Northern Ireland | 22 | Defender | n/a | n/a |
| J. Sobecki | Poland | 21 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| O. Robinson | Northern Ireland | 21 | Defender | n/a | n/a |
| J. Given | Northern Ireland | 20 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| J. Kelly | Northern Ireland | 20 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| G. Trimble | Northern Ireland | 20 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| Name | Country | Age | Position | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C. Shields | Republic of Ireland | 35 | Midfielder | 188 | 70 |
| K. McClean | Northern Ireland | 28 | Midfielder | 183 | n/a |
| B. Hall | Northern Ireland | 29 | Defender | 185 | 79 |
| J. Mulgrew | Northern Ireland | 40 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| C. Johns | Northern Ireland | 31 | Goalkeeper | 183 | 84 |
| S. Whiteside | Northern Ireland | 29 | Defender | 188 | 80 |
| C. Ballantyne | Scotland | 26 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| E. McGee | Northern Ireland | 24 | Midfielder | n/a | n/a |
| D. Walsh | Northern Ireland | 24 | Goalkeeper | n/a | n/a |
| E. East | Scotland | 26 | Defender | 183 | 77 |
| C. McKee | Northern Ireland | 24 | Attacker | 181 | n/a |
| M. Fitzpatrick | Northern Ireland | 32 | Attacker | n/a | n/a |
| Dane Neil McCullough | Northern Ireland | 22 | Defender | n/a | n/a |
| M. Yates | Scotland | 24 | Attacker | n/a | n/a |
| K. Offord | Scotland | 22 | Attacker | 171 | n/a |
| S. Brown | Northern Ireland | 21 | Defender | n/a | n/a |
| R. Annett | Northern Ireland | 21 | Attacker | n/a | n/a |
| R. McKay | Northern Ireland | 21 | Defender | n/a | n/a |
| M. Orr | Northern Ireland | 19 | Defender | n/a | n/a |
| D. Rooney | Northern Ireland | 18 | Goalkeeper | n/a | n/a |
Put it all together and the table and recent form both lean towards Linfield, even if the head-to-head history isn't quite as one-sided as it first looks.
With no market supplied for this fixture and plenty of time left before kickoff, we're happy to leave this one without a pick rather than guess at value.
Who will win?
