Crawley Town vs Cambridge United Predictions

It has been a mixed start to new manager Gabriele Cioffi’s reign as Crawley boss, with two wins and two defeats in his first four matches. The latest game was a 3-1 defeat away at Notts County, managed by Cioffi’s predecessor Harry Kewell. Despite having 22 attempts on goal and more possession, they were outdone by some clinical finishing from the hosts, who even had a man sent off in the second half. Although Dominic Poleon got a consolation goal, it was not the best day at the office for Cioffi.

With that amount of shots on goal and possession, however, there are positives to take. He has got his side playing a less direct style of football than Crawley did under Kewell and movement and passing has been enhanced. This was witnessed in their weekend win against Yeovil, in which they outplayed a strong side at home to win 3-1, with second-half goals from Ashley Nathaniel-George and Filipe Morais.

Added to their win against Morecambe in Cioffi’s first match, in which they won comfortably 2-0, as well as the impressive away win against league leaders Lincoln, where they inflicted the first defeat on the hosts, there is potential in this side to challenge for the play-offs.

However, like under Kewell, there appears to be an inherent sense of inconsistency. Whilst they won back-to-back games against Morecambe and Lincoln, they haven’t managed it apart from that. In fact, separate from those two games, Crawley have lost the game after they won one. This has to improve, otherwise they will remain marooned in mid-table without challenging the top seven.

On the other hand, Cambridge seem like a club in crisis. With only three senior players bought in the summer, there seems to be a lack of quality and ambition around the club and results have showcased this. They sit in the relegation zone after 11 matches.

The latest defeat was to unbeaten Forest Green Rovers. Whilst they competed well and deservedly took the lead in the first half, they simply didn’t have the ability to finish their chances. Consequently, Forest Green Rovers were able to come back into the game and eventually take all three points. To compound the misery, Cambridge finished the match with ten men after Jake Carroll was sent off. They also took the lead against Newport at the weekend to go 2-0 up but ended up losing 4-2 after falling apart in the second half. It shows this team does not have the belief to win a game yet.

Indeed, Cambridge haven’t won in over a month, since they impressively beat Stevenage 1-0 away from home. Since then, they have lost to Carlisle, Colchester and Newport, whilst drew to Mansfield. The win against Stevenage and draw at Mansfield, as well as beating Notts County earlier in the season, does indicate this team has promise, it just needs a little more investment and confidence injected into it, especially in defence after conceding 23 goals already, the second-worst in the division.

We think this terrible run Cambridge are on will continue against Crawley, who have looked really strong at home under Gabriele Cioffi, winning both their matches. Crawley should do it again, with Cambridge seemingly unable to see out a game but it will be tougher than it looks, with Crawley also taking a blow in midweek to Notts County. Thus, backing Crawley to Win & BTTS looks apt for this match, whilst a 2-1 correct score means Cioffi should start his Crawley reign with three straight home wins.