League Two
Saturday 11th February 2012 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
League Two leaders Crawley Town entertain 18th placed Aldershot Town as they bid to open up a three point cushion over joint leaders Cheltenham Town on Saturday afternoon.
Crawley Town signalled their intentions in midweek when they saw off Cheltenham in a high-scoring 4-2 win which has lifted them level with Cheltenham. Despite losing leading scorer Matty Tubbs to Bournemouth, the Red Devils continued on their merry way and indeed have promptly added further attacking personnel in Billy Clarke from Blackpool and Notts County striker Karl Hawley on loan.
Crawley’s home record stands at 11-1-2 33/13, and have lost just once in their last ten which was a surprising loss to Gillingham. However, that seems to have been forgotten already as they’ve recorded back-to-back wins against Barnet and Cheltenham to set the ship right again. Their attacking personnel includes striker Tyrone Barnett (14 goals, 6 assists), Sergio Torres, Dean Howell from defence and their new aforementioned signings.
Aldershot secured their first win in seven matches last time out when they beat AFC Wimbledon 2-1 which was a much needed three points for the Hampshire side. However, they are still not 100% safe and are eight points above the relegation places. But a win at Wimbledon is a world away from getting three points at the juggernaut Crawley and they could struggle to even get a point here.
The Shots’ away record stands at 5-1-8 16/23, and prior to that win last weekend, they went five matches without scoring and this could be a problem when they visit free-scoring Crawley; leading scorer Daniel Hylton (9 goals) is their main strike threat but he hasn’t scored now for 13 matches which coincides with Aldershot’s slide in form.
The stats reflect the playing personnel in my opinion, and Crawley’s home goals per game average stands at 2.35 whereas Aldershot’s away goals per game stands at 1.14. It’s not always as simple as that but I’ll take Crawley for another comfortable home win here – 2-0 or 3-1 margin.
Pick: Crawley Town AH-1 @ 1.83 Pinnacle (if Crawley win by 1 goal we get our stake back)
