Crawley vs Crewe tips and predictions: Relentless Town press their way to promotion
- George Dempsey
- 15 May 2024
Crawley Town and Crewe Alexandra will take to the Wembley Stadium pitch on Sunday afternoon (1300 BST) for the League Two play-off final.
Crawley Town will face Crewe Alexandra at Wembley on Sunday afternoon with just 90 minutes of football separating them from a place in League One.
The League Two play-offs throw up memorable matches every year, but few are quite as emphatic as Crawley Town’s 8-1 aggregate win against MK Dons.
Blackpool beat Luton 6-5 and Exeter beat Carlisle 6-5 in 2017, but Town’s romp was the most goals scored in a win since Dagenham beat Morecambe 7-2 in 2010.
Before that, Bristol Rovers beat Lincoln City 7-4 in their 2007 promotion season, but Crawley’s margin of victory stands alone in modern history.
Yet it all counts for nothing. Crewe did the unthinkable when they overturned a 2-0 deficit against the country’s form team in their semi-final tie.
Early goals from Mickey Demetriou and a James Maxwell own-goal took the game to penalties where Alex cooly converted four of their five spot kicks to progress.
The victory was just their second in 11 matches, however, which pales in comparison to Crawley’s unbeaten run of five matches and six wins in their last 11.
The intensity and quality shown by Scott Lindsey’s side suggests they have the momentum ahead of this Wembley showdown, but time will tell.
There are some definitive trends, though, such as at least one side failing to score in nine of the last 13 League Two play-off finals.
The occasion can dictate the style of the game, but neither of these sides are known for their defensive prowess. Crawley conceded 15 in their last 10 league matches, while Crewe shipped 14.
Crucially, both sides know where the net is, so we just need an early goal for this final to catch fire. Both sides have averaged roughly 1.5 goals per game this season.
Danilo Orsi has been an unstoppable force this season. Town's main man found the net 24 times, including a hat trick in the second leg of the play-off semi-final.
