With a place in the FA Cup third round at stake, Darragh Tracy writes that the Imps will travel down to West Sussex for the second time this season, hoping to inflict defeat on Rob Elliot’s Crawley Town.
Crawley Form
After being promoted via the League Two playoffs last season, Crawley Town were expected to finish rock bottom by many. They lost the core of their squad, didn’t really replace them and six games into the season, lost manager Scott Lindsey, who guided them into League One. The Red Devils replaced Lindsey with Rob Elliot, former manager of Gateshead, who’s first win came, (look away Imps), in a dominant 3-0 win over Lincoln.
Before his appointment, Crawley had produced some very good results. A win against Blackpool on the opening day and then a win away in Cambridge had them six from six at the start, but from then on it started to fall off. After losses to Wigan and Barnsley, they drew with Stockport, before going on a seven-game losing streak.
Ending this dour run was a brilliant win over City, and since, the Red Devils haven’t lost at home. Their last two home fixtures came against a pair of relegated sides, Huddersfield and Rotherham, where they picked up an impressive four points.
In the previous round of the FA Cup, Crawley squeezed past non-league Maidenhead United. After equalising in fifth minute of stoppage time at the end of the game, it wasn’t until the 115th minute that Crawley got their noses in front and secured a second-round spot.
Crawley Tactics
Likely to lineup in a 3-4-3 formation, Crawley Town love to keep the ball. The Red Devils have the second highest average possession in the league, only behind Birmingham, which shows they have an endeavour to control the play. Crawley do not create too many chances off the back of that, but when do receive an opportunity on goal, they usually take it.
The Red Devils expected goals this season has been 15.5, and they have scored 15, so they are usually pretty clinical when they get the chance. Junior Quitirna is the danger for Skubala’s side tomorrow, being Crawley’s top goal scorer, along with Will Swan and Ronan Darcy.
Eddie Beach and Ryan Sanford, both goalkeepers, will be the only two players that will definitely miss out on the match through injury tomorrow, with the pair being sidelined until 2025.
Previous Meetings
This is the first-ever meeting between Crawley and Lincoln in the FA Cup proper. Crawley have already beaten the Imps 3-0 at home this season, in a league match last month. Before this, the sides met in League Two in 2019, where the Imps reversed this year’s scoreline and beat the Red Devils 3-0. Both sides will be fighting tooth and nail to be in the third round of the FA Cup tomorrow, but if Lincoln are on their top form, they should be able to get past Crawley and secure a place in hat for next Monday’s draw.