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Crawley Town and Crewe Alexandra will battle it out at Wembley on Sunday with promotion to League One up for grabs.
This was a fixture very few projected before the season got underway. Crawley and Crewe were among the favourites to succumb to the drop but both have defied the odds and embarked on stellar campaigns in the fourth tier.
The pair were even written off after qualifying for the play-offs, but Crawley blew away MK Dons in the second leg of their semi-final, progressing as 8-1 aggregate victors, while Crewe beat Doncaster Rovers on penalties despite losing the first leg at home 2-0.
A place in League One next season is the prize for these two sides at Wembley and here’s 90min’s preview of Sunday’s seismic clash.
Crawley vs Crewe H2H Record (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
|
Crawley |
Crewe |
|---|---|
|
MK Dons 1-5 Crawley – 11/05/24 |
Doncaster 0-2 (3-4p) Crewe – 10/05/24 |
|
Crawley 3-0 MK Dons – 07/05/24 |
Crewe 0-2 Doncaster – 06/05/24 |
|
Crawley 2-0 Grimsby – 27/04/24 |
Colchester 1-1 Crewe – 27/04/24 |
|
Sutton Utd 2-2 Crawley – 20/04/24 |
Crewe 0-3 Wrexham – 20/04/24 |
|
Crawley 1-1 Barrow – 16/04/24 |
Crewe 0-3 Grimsby – 13/04/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
Sky Sports Football, Sky Sports Main Event, SKY GO Extra, Sky Ultra HD |
|
United States |
ESPN+ |
|
Canada |
DAZN |
Will Wright, Harry Forster and Klaidi Lolos were all forced off before the hour mark in Crawley’s emphatic victory at MK Dons and are doubts for Sunday’s final. All three have played key roles in the Reds’ rise to the play-off final and will be desperate to feature at Wembley.
If those three are deemed fit to start, Crawley boss Scott Lindsey will likely name an unchanged side from the semi-finals.
Crawley predicted lineup vs Crewe (3-4-2-1): Addai; Wright, Conroy, Maguire; Forster, Williams, L. Kelly, J. Kelly; Lolos, Campbell; Orsi.
Elliott Nevitt picked up a knock late on against Doncaster and is a serious doubt for Sunday’s final.
If Nevitt does recover in time, Crewe could be unchanged from their second-leg victory at the Eco-Power Stadium after Lee Bell made four changes from their 2-0 first leg defeat at home.
Crewe predicted lineup vs Crawley (4-2-3-1): Stryjek; Billington, Turns, Demetriou, Adebisi; Thomas, Tabiner; Tracey, Rowe, Long; Nevitt.
The previous ten League Two play-off finals have averaged two goals, pointing towards a scrappy and tight affair on Sunday.
A contrast of styles will also be on display at Wembley. The very best of a swashbuckling Crawley manifested at MK Dons last week, with Crewe, who are considerably more conservative, likely to let their opponents dominate territorially.
Crewe have had Crawley’s number in recent outings but the big Wembley pitch should play into the Reds’ hands. It’ll be a tough ask for Crewe to sit deep and contain their opponents for the entirety of the contest, with Crawley needing to produce only one moment of quality against a stubborn backline to earn promotion.
