Crawley Town (H): Match Preview
What to expect from City's League Cup preliminary round opponents
Monday sees York play their first game as a Football League club since 2016, with Crawley Town the visitors for a League Cup preliminary round tie to determine who visits Watford in the 1st Round. What should we expect from Crawley, and who are their key players to look out for?
We’ve met before…
This will be Crawley’s first ever visit to the LNER Community Stadium, with a decade having passed since the last meeting between the sides in League Two. On that occasion, a Michael Coulson strike rescued a point for Jackie McNamara’s relegation-bound side in a 2-2 draw. City haven’t won any of the last 5 clashes between the teams, but can take comfort from the fact that Crawley have failed to win on each of their previous 8 visits to York.
This will be the third season in which York’s first competitive fixture has been a home game against Crawley. The other two occasions ended in a goalless draw (2005/06) and a 1-0 win for York decided by a Craig Farrell goal (2008/09).
What to expect from Crawley
After securing League Two survival on the final day last season, Crawley go into the new campaign as one of the favourites for the drop. Colin Kazim-Richards was a leftfield choice when he arrived as head coach in March, but under his stewardship the Red Devils secured 9 points from their final 7 games to finish a point clear of relegated Harrogate.
With this being their first competitive game of the season, and following a busy summer of transfer activity for the Sussex side, it’s difficult to predict how they will line up with any great confidence. Kazim-Richards favoured a system with four at the back last season, so it’s probable that this will continue, with a 4-2-3-1 shape perhaps most likely.
There may be a recognisable name in goal, as ex-Arsenal stopper Vito Mannone has been recruited in a player-coach role, and has been starting pre-season games despite not playing for over a year since leaving Lille. Other options are youngsters Jackson Izquierdo, signed this summer after leaving Crystal Palace, or Nick Michalski who has joined on a season-long loan from Blackburn.
Centre-back Charlie Barker has been a virtual ever-present over the last two seasons and should be a certainty to start, with his most likely partner in central defence being Priestley Farquharson who joined this summer from Walsall. The starting full-backs are a little harder to guess: Ade Adeyemo has spent most of his career as an attacker but Kazim-Richards converted him to an unfamiliar right-back role last season so he may continue there, while young Northern Irish defender Jonny Russell is a strong contender for the left-back slot.
Probably Crawley’s most eye-catching summer recruit is midfielder Jude Arthurs, who played a key role in Bromley’s title win last season but turned down the chance to stay with the Ravens in League One and opted to join Crawley instead. He is a likely starter at the base of midfield, and should be partnered by captain Jay Williams if he is match fit. If Williams misses out, new signing from the Gibraltar league Klaudio Krasniqi is the likely replacement, while another option is Nathan Tinsdale who has arrived on loan from Hull City.
Former Ireland U21 international Louie Watson is another probable starter in attacking midfield. Stephen Duke-McKenna, recently signed from Harrogate Town, is comfortable playing in a variety of roles but may start on the left wing. On the right flank, Dion Pereira is a possible selection if he can return to match fitness after missing the final two pre-season friendlies. The other main contender for this position is former Crystal Palace youngster Malcolm Ebiowei, who was brought in over summer and scored an impressive free-kick against Oxford in pre-season, while Blackburn loanee Osman Kamara is another option out wide.
Up front, Pemi Aderoju has arrived on loan from Peterborough and must be in contention to start. Signed by Posh as a teenager from non-league Biggleswade, he was sent out on loan to National League South outfit Eastbourne Borough last season and scored an impressive 20 goals in 28 appearances. Another option is Danilo Orsi, who was one of the stars of Scott Lindsey’s playoff-winning Crawley side in 2023/24 and rejoined the club this year. Alternatively they could look to Gianmarco Di Biase, a young attacker who has recently made the unorthodox switch from Juventus to Crawley.
York team news
Having managed several of these players across his two spells as Crawley manager, Lindsey will arguably know their squad better than the York squad he has inherited since joining the club this week. This should give him a strong insight into the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Red Devils, even if he will have had only a few days on the training ground to instil his playing system into the York players. He may have a point to prove against his former employers, and with fan disquiet continuing over the dismissal of his predecessor Stuart Maynard, Lindsey will be hoping to begin the process of winning over City’s supporters by progressing through this tie.
There are three York players confirmed to be missing through injury: Hiram Boateng is sidelined for 2-3 months, Mark Kitching is absent in the short term with a foot problem, and Josh Stones is targeting a return to action in the first league fixture against Bristol Rovers in two weeks. Several players could make their Minstermen competitive debuts having signed over summer: Alfie McNally is likely to play in goal, while the likes of Medley, McArthur, Hunt, Shelton, Read and Maguire will all be pushing for a start. City fans will be watching with interest to see which players Scott Lindsey places his trust in for his first game in charge.