League 2 
Two sides that are embroiled in a relegation scrap at the bottom of the Football League meet at the Broadfield Stadium on Saturday afternoon as Crawley Town are set to host Harrogate.
Crawley are in the midst of a terrible run of form, in which their past eight league games have yielded just one point and they have lost their past six games on the bounce. This form may be somewhat misleading as this run of games has included games against Stockport, Leyton Orient, Carlisle and Northampton, sides who all occupy positions in the top six of the table.
The Red Devils were in action on Tuesday evening as they faced Sutton United, in a game that had been postponed from January 21st when the pitch at the VBS was frozen. It was an upsetting defeat for Scott Lindsey’s men who were comfortably beaten.
Sutton cruised to victory thanks to an Omart Bugiel brace with the goals being scored minutes either side of the half-time break. Lee Angol added a third late on in the game as Crawley were convincingly beaten 3-0.
Crawley have an easier spell of games coming up as all five of their next games come against teams who are currently in the bottom half of the table. If the Reds are to maintain Football League status, it is imperative that they achieve a substantial points haul from these upcoming games.
Harrogate are currently nine points above the relegation zone and a win this weekend would give huge confidence that they will retain Football League status. The Sulphurites have only one one of their last eight league games and have recorded frustrating draws against the likes of Gillingham and Grimsby.
However, Harrogate were given a large boost on Tuesday evening as they faced Doncaster Rovers at the Eco-Power Stadium in a Yorkshire derby. Most of the game was a drab affair with little quality on show from either side.
However, a Luke Armstrong strike in the last 10 minutes was quickly followed up by a Harrogate second as substitute Alex Pattison found the back of the net. This late double secured Harrogate’s fourth away win of the season and will give them a big boost heading into the back end of the season.
These sides have met on five prior occasions in this fixture’s relatively short fixture. Since they first met in November 2020, there has been three draws and a win for each side.
It was a rather boring affair when these sides met at the beginning of the season in the reverse fixture. Chances were at a premium throughout the game and neither side was able to break the deadlock as the game ended goalless.
Despite their recent form, Crawley are favoured at the bookies ahead of this matchup @ 13/10, whilst an away win for Harrogate is currently priced @ 19/10. We are backing a draw and BTTS @ 10/3 because of these sides poor defensive records.
Crawley have the second-worst defensive record in League Two having conceded 57 goals, whilst Harrogate have the fourth worst having conceded 51. We believe that this could be an open game as both sides vie for crucial points in their bid for survival.