Carlisle United vs Crawley Town preview: Team news, predicted lineups, ones to watch, previous meetings and how to watch

Carlisle United and Crawley Town look to keep their play-off hopes alive in the league two fixture on Tuesday night.

A general view of the action from the terrace behind the goal during the Sky Bet League Two match between Carlisle United and Cambridge United at Brunton Park on March 27, 2021 in Carlisle, England. Sporting stadiums around the UK remain under strict restrictions due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in games being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

By Jake Broderick29 March 2021 20:46 BST

Carlisle United have dropped the ball in their last three games, coming away with zero points. They were outdone on Saturday by the league leaders Cambridge United. Adam May scored a 90th minute
winner to seal all three points.

Crawley Town haven’t exactly been in fine form themselves, losing their last two fixtures. A heavy 3-1 defeat against Port Vale came on their own turf at the weekend. A 96th-minute goal from Scott Quigley saw Barrow victorious over Crawley in a 3-2 victory, the game before.

The Cumbrians ran riot at The Peoples Pension Stadium back in November. Goals from Rhys Bennett, Joshua Kayode and Aaron Hayden secured the 3-0 win over Crawley.

Crawley sits in 11th, only six points off the play-offs. Whilst Carlisle are in 14th, nine points adrift from a play-off spot.

Team news

Two of the goal-scorers in the reverse fixture, Bennett and Kayode, will be unavailable this time around for Carlisle. Bennett is nursing a knee injury that will keep him out for the rest of the campaign, whilst an ankle injury will keep Kayode out for the time being.

Forward Lewis Alessandra was dropped to the bench for the Cambridge game, but after scoring the only goal for Carlisle, he may be brought back into the starting 11.

Crawley Midfielder Sam Matthews made his comeback from injury with a 21-minute appearance against Port Vale and could come into the starting line-up.

Defenders Jordan Tunnicliffe and Tom Dallison, midfielders Tyler Frost and Henry Burnett and strikers Reece Grego-Cox and Davide Rodari all missed the weekend game through injury.

Midfielder Jake Hesketh is out for the rest of the season.

Predicted lineups

Carlisle XI: Farman, Tanner, Hayden, McDonald, Anderton, Furman, Guy, Riley, Mellish, Zanzala, Alessandra.

Crawley XI: Morris, Francomb, McNerney, Craig, Sesay, Powell, Hessenthaler, Matthews, Drew, Nadesan, Nichols.

Ones to watch

23-year-old midfielder Jon Mellish has been a delight to watch this season, after turning into a completely different player after converting into a midfielder from a defender.

Mellish joined the League Two side last season from the National League side Gateshead. The move to midfield has given him the opportunity to prove himself, scoring eight goals so far in the league this season.

Crawley forward Tom Nichols is having a delightful season up top this year. 11 goals and seven assists so far in League Two for the Englishman since joining on a permanent move from Bristol Rovers at the start of the season.

The attacker is a real threat with his pace and eye for the goal. He’s a great contributor also, helping his usual partner up top Ashley Nadesan.

Previous meetings

Out of 15 occasions, Crawley have only been victorious over Carlisle once. This came in their first time of meeting back in League One, in September 2012. Two second-half goals from Nathan Byrne and Nicky Adams gave Crawley the win.

Ever since then, Carlisle have been a bogey side for Crawley. There have been six draws and eight wins for Carlisle. As stated before, Carlisle were 3-0 winners earlier on in the season.

How to watch

You can watch the match by purchasing an iFollow match pass from either club website. The game kicks off at 19:00 BST on Tuesday 30th March.