Football – England – League One
Saturday 9th February 2013 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Lowly Scunthorpe United take on another club that have had a disappointing season so far, Crawley Town, at their Glanford Park ground on Saturday afternoon.
Scunthorpe United have put in some promising performances in recent weeks which followed a run of just one win in nine matches as they continue to flirt with the bottom four and relegation from League One. But recent wins against relegation rivals Colchester United 2-1 away and their crucial ‘six-pointer’ against Portsmouth in midweek, The Iron running out eventual 2-1 winners, has kept their heads above water and the right side of 21st place.
Scunthorpe’s home record stands at 2-5-7 15/26 and despite showing signs of recovery lately, let’s not forget that they’ve only managed one league win at home in their last ten matches which was against a forlorn Portsmouth side who now look doomed to relegation down to League Two.
In addition, it’s worth pointing out that the hosts have kept just two clean sheets from their last sixteen league matches at Glanford Park which gives the visitors more than just a sniff.
Crawley Town, by their standards, have had a fairly disappointing season so far but like Stevenage and MK Dons, this afternoon represents a great chance to move up the league ladder again and take all the points on offer here today.
The Red Devils recently lost to top six opposition in the shape of Bournemouth 0-3 and Tranmere Rovers, 0-3 and 0-2 respectively, but they did manage a point at the County Ground when they held third placed Swindon Town to a 1-1 draw last weekend which was a great result. Crawley have also beaten lower half teams such as Stevenage, Portsmouth and Colchester United recently which suggests they will at least hold their own at Scunthorpe on Saturday.
Crawley’s away record stands at 6-2-6 14/20 and despite their six defeats so far, only one of those was against a lower half team – a 0-2 defeat at Crewe Alexandra back in November. Aside from that loss though, the other defeats were against top half opposition and I reckon they’re good for a point at Glanford Park today.
Scunthorpe’s run at home recently with just one win under their belts gives me confidence to back Crawley Town for at least a draw here and I wouldn’t be surprised if they ran out 2-1 winners in the end. The quarter ball is on offer for Crawley Town at a reasonable price here, so I recommend taking it.
Pick: Crawley Town AH+0.25 @ 1.72 Pinnacle
