The Voice - Match preview Crawley Town vs Bradford City Friday 7th April @ 3:00pm

League Two Fixture #39

Friday 7th April 2023 15:00
Crawley Town (22nd) vs Bradford City (6th)
Broadfield Stadium

Most Recent Results:

1: Walsall 0 – 0 Bradford City
2: Newport County 1 – 1 Bradford City
3: Bradford City 2 - 2 Hartlepool United
4: Bradford City 0 – 0 Carlisle United
5: Bradford City 3 – 2 Grimsby Town

Form: WDDDD

1: AFC Wimbledon 0 – 1 Crawley Town
2: Crawley Town 1 – 1 Doncaster Rovers
3: Crawley Town 2 – 0 Rochdale
4: Crawley Town 1 – 1 Grimsby Town
5: Mansfield Town 4 – 1 Crawley Town

Form: LDWDW

Head-to-Head Results:

Head-to-Head Form:

15 Dec 2020: Crawley Town 1 – 1 Bradford City
13 Apr 2021: Bradford City 0 – 2 Crawley Town
25 Sep 2021: Crawley Town 2 – 1 Bradford City
29 Jan 2022: Bradford City 1 – 2 Crawley Town
29 Oct 2022: Bradford City 1 – 1 Crawley Town

Head-to-Head Results (All Time):

Won: 4
Drawn: 2
Lost: 7

Biggest Margin of Victory:

17 Sep 2011: Crawley Town 3 – 1 Bradford City
19 Aug 2014: Crawley Town 1 – 3 Bradford City
13 Apr 2021: Bradford City 0 – 2 Crawley Town

For Better or Worse:
First Half of the Season vs Second Half of the Season Analysis

Newport County: WIN followed by DRAW
Hartlepool United: WIN followed by DRAW
Carlisle United: DEFEAT followed by DRAW
Grimsby Town: DRAW followed by WIN
Crawley Town: DRAW followed by ???

Results so far: The second half of the season has seen an improvement by 1 point



Crawley Town 2022/23:
Crawley Town crashed to their joint heaviest defeat of the season to end a mini-revival

Crawley Town hadn't lost in 5 straight games until this past weekend, when play off chasers Mansfield Town slammed 4 goals past a hapless Red Devil's defence. The 4-1 defeat was Crawley's joint heaviest of the season (they have lost 5-2 twice, 4-1 three times, and 3-0 once.), and had manager Scott Lindsey saying it was like his side “had never defended before”.

Lindsey, then, will be looking for a response come Good Friday and the visit of promotion-seeking Bradford City, and a return to the kind of form that has seen them pick off the likes of Harrogate Town, AFC Wimbledon and Rochdale in recent games. That run, that also saw draws with Doncaster Rovers and Grimsby Town, has lifted Crawley Town out of the bottom 2, and 2 points ahead of Hartlepool United. The job is not done, though, as Hartlepool haven't lost in 6, and recorded a much-needed win over Scott Lindsey's former employers Swindon Town at the weekend.

Squeaky bum time for WAGMI United and Crawley Town in a chaotic, error-strewn season. Lindsey, a surprise appointment immediately after leaving Swindon Town in January, has done well recently to steady the ship – but as the club's third permanent appointment of the campaign, it's not surprise to see him picking up the pieces.

The American consortium, once linked with a takeover of Bradford City, have struggled badly. Despite signing one of last season's most prolific forwards in Dom Telford, and bringing in a host of Premier League loanees, getting things right off the pitch has been more of a struggle than appears to have been anticipated. From embarrassing PR campaigns, to the bizarre one month stint in charge for former Bantams winger Matthew Etherington, to accusations of interference in team selection, things have not been going well for Crawley this season – and a relegation to non-league remains very plausible indeed.

Lindsey's arrival from Swindon Town was met with some surprise. The ex-non league player had been expected to guide Swindon towards the promotion positions, but having failed in this aim, was let go; only to immediately take the helm at the Broadfield Stadium. Criticised by fans of the Robins as too negative and labelled 'boring', perhaps his is the steadying influence Crawley Town needed all along; but as another appointment with minimal EFL experience, it remains to be seen if he has the skill to manufacture a 'great escape' from one of the most embarrassing relegations in recent EFL history.

Bradford City 2022/23:
A thrilling 3-2 victory over Grimsby Town saw The Bantams extend their unbeaten run to 8 games

8 games without defeat is an excellent achievement at this stage of the season, but a run of 4 straight draws had taken the gloss of that accomplishment somewhat. Saturday's well-deserved 3-2 win over Grimsby Town, however, has lent a glossier feel to Bradford City's current form that stretched back to January 14. Just 1 defeat in 14 is remarkable, but victories remain the order of the day from now until the end of the season.

Being hard to beat will not achieve promotion alone, at least not via the automatic route, and the Bantams remain 4 points adrift of Stevenage without a game in hand – Northampton Town, in 2nd, have played 1 more, but are even further ahead: a full 6 points. Catching the top 3, as well as beating off the likes of Carlisle United and Stockport County, will involve minimal slip ups – and more draws, frankly, could do more harm than good.

That is why it was such a breath of fresh air to witness the Bantams overturn a 2-1 deficit against Grimsby after a pair of errors at the back – and look threatening right until the final whistle in the pursuit of more. That kind of attack-minded performance has been missing at times this season, particularly at Valley Parade, but is most welcome at the business end of a long, arduous campaign.

Mark Hughes had said his team had looked good in training in the wake of a week off following the controversial postponement of the Crewe Alexandra game, and his words proved prophetic. Another near-week long break before Good Friday's tie with Crawley Town will be welcome as City look to continue their push up the League Two table.

Goals for Alex Gilliead and Jamie Walker were extremely welcome, adding to Andy Cook's strike as the hot shot continued his fantastic run of averaging almost a goal-a-game across the last 12 fixtures. Cook will, and has been, the name on opposition defender's lips – but as has been the case all season, additional firepower from other areas is the difference between 1 point and 3.

While the Bradford City defence continue their astonishing season-long goal drought, goals from midfield might just allow Mark Hughes' men a shot at achieving a top 3 finish.

Highlights:

Bradford City 3 – 2 Grimsby Town



Mansfield Town 4 – 1 Crawley Town



Bradford City 1 – 1 Crawley Town



Outlook:

A Dion Pereira goal in the home fixture against Crawley Town remains something of a collector's piece this season, but it wasn't enough to beat the Red Devil's as Town made it 5 games without defeat back in October. That spell, and the results thereafter, have proven to be Crawley's best league form of the season – only Walsall were able to beat embattled Crawley during an 8 game spell of League Two games.

Mansfield Town were a victim of Crawley during that spell, but repaid the favour in full this past weekend, where Crawley Town looked particularly inept at the back. Better, surely, will be expected against Bradford City come Friday.

That said, Bradford City have no room for further charitable contributions to Crawley's relegation dog fight. Nothing but a win will do, and the return of Matt Derbyshire as another 'thinking man's' attacker will be very welcome indeed. Beleaguered Harry Chapman won no further fans with an anonymous second half display, so that particular change should be straight forward for manager Mark Hughes. With Smallwood covering well in Clayton's absence, additional firepower from the experienced centre forward Derbyshire could be a nightmarish prospect for Crawley Town.

While Bradford City haven't proved capable of blowing teams away, even when a comfortable victory has been on the cards, it shouldn't matter too much. Even when going behind in games like the homes ties with Hartlepool United and Grimsby Town, The Bantams have shown real character in fighting back – and were able to lead from the front in 3 straight games back in late February-early March.

Going ahead early against Crawley Town could set up an exciting prospect of a much-needed boost to the Goal Difference column – but ultimately, any win is acceptable. Avoiding a potential banana skin here will set up a very tasty home tie with follow play off contenders Sutton United on Easter Monday. City fans will be wary, though, of Crawley's excellent recent record against the Bantams, as well as their reasonable home form this season.

Odds:

9/4: Crawley Town
9/4: Draw
6/5: Bradford City

Predicted Outcome (THE VOICE):

Crawley Town 1 – 3 Bradford City