Stockport County will be looking to maintain their impressive start to the 2024-25 League One season when they travel to Broadfield Stadium to face Crawley Town on Saturday afternoon.
Both these sides earned promotion to the third tier last season, with the hosts doing so by winning the playoffs while the visitors gained automatic promotion by winning the title.
Match preview
© Imago
The international break arguably came at the perfect time for Crawley Town, as it would have allowed the side time to assess areas of improvement after back-to-back defeats in the league competition.
Just before the league stoppage, the Red Devils suffered their first home defeat of the season, beaten by Barnsley, who had put the game to bed by the half time interval after scoring three goals in the first 45.
That result followed two consecutive victories at the start of the campaign over Blackpool (2-1) and Cambridge (1-0), before a somewhat unfortunate loss to Wigan in gameweek three.
One of the major improvements that Scott Lindsey will be looking for here will be from his side's attack, and their struggles in front of goal were particularly evident in that loss to the Latics, when they had five times as many attempts on goal as their opponents, but failed to find the back of the net with any of their 15 shots.
However, Crawley's record against their upcoming opponent suggests they will need to be at their absolute best to get anything from this one, having failed to beat Stockport in their last three attempts dating back to September 2022.
© Imago
Meanwhile, Stockport County, like Wrexham, have carried their momentum from League Two up a division and are in second place, three points behind the Red Dragons, but with a crucial game in hand.
The Hatters are one of only three sides, along with Wrexham and Birmingham, who have avoided defeat up to the first international break of the season, notching up three wins and a draw so far.
Dave Challinor's side's victories have come against Cambridge United, Blackpool and Bristol Rovers, while they drew with Mansfield Town ahead of a 4-1 demolition of Accrington Stanley in the EFL Trophy at the start of this month.
The only blemish on what has otherwise been a very impressive start to the season was the 6-1 drubbing they endured at home to Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup in mid-September.
Still, the visitors will fancy their chances of getting a result here, having not lost one competitive away match since February which was against the Robins by a 2-1 scoreline on the final day on last season.
Team News
![Dave Challinor manager of Stockport County during the Pre-season friendly match Stockport County vs Blackburn Rovers at Edgeley Park Stadium, Stockport, United Kingdom, August 2, 2024 [on August 11, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/32/dave-challinor.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Dave Challinor manager of Stockport County during the Pre-season friendly match Stockport County vs Blackburn Rovers at Edgeley Park Stadium, Stockport, United Kingdom, August 2, 2024 [on August 11, 2024]")
© Imago
Scott Lindsey could be without the services of three players here, including club captain Dion Conroy, Gavan Holohan and Sonny Fish, all of who are flagged as doubts owing to injuries.
In search of a greater attacking threat, the Crawley boss may also consider handing a start to Ade Adeyemo, who came off the bench to score the winner for the side against Cambridge United last month.
Challinor, on the other hand, has fared incredibly well this season considering the number of injuries he currently has in the squad, with the likes of Nick Powell, Micky Mellon, Lewis Fiorini and Lewis Bate all missing matches in the early stages of the campaign.
However, one player that is fit and will face his former club this weekend is Corey Addai, who will come into this match after keeping an impressive three clean sheets in his first four league games for the Hatters.
Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Wollacott; Mullarkey, Mukena, Flint; Williams, Kelly, Anderson, Bragg; Quitima, Darcy; Hepburn-Murphy
Stockport County possible starting lineup:
Addai; Onyango, Horsfall, Pye, Touray; Camps, Norwood; Fevrier, Collar, Barry; Wootton
We say: Crawley Town 1-2 Stockport County
While Crawley have avoided defeat in their last two matches against this opponent at this venue, their attack did look blunt leading up to the international break, which does not bode well for their chances against a Stockport side that have only conceded one goal this term.
The time off may have given the hosts a chance to reset, but we feel the Hatters will still come away with the points in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
![Rotherham United manager Steve Evans during the EFL Sky Bet League 1 match between Wycombe Wanderers and Rotherham United at Adams Park, High Wycombe, England, on 24 August 2024. [on August 25, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/11/29/1x1.gif?w=1&h=1 "Rotherham United manager Steve Evans during the EFL Sky Bet League 1 match between Wycombe Wanderers and Rotherham United at Adams Park, High Wycombe, England, on 24 August 2024. [on August 25, 2024]")
