Crawley Town v Mansfield Town Betting Tips: Stags to press for the play-offs

20:41, 04 may 2017
20:41, 04 may 2017
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Home side Crawley Town have nothing to play for having survived this season, however, Mansfield Town, despite being down in 12th, are still only two points off the play-off spots and a win here could see them leap up five places into the top seven.

Crawley will be thankful that they are not in the relegation mix on the final day of the season as they have been in woeful form recently with no win in their last six, picking up just two points from a possible 18 since beating Leyton Orient back in late March. All of this has caused head coach Dermot Drummy to be relieved of his duties.

The Red Devils have really struggled for goals of late with just four in their last six and three of those coming in one match. However, this is hardly a surprise given they have only found the back of the net 51 times over the course of the campaign. Unfortunately for Crawley, they have also been woeful at the back in recent times with just one clean sheet in their last six.

Home form has been Crawley’s saving grace this season, however, they have still taken just 30 points from 22 home games and failed to win in their last three at Broadfield Stadium. However, interestingly, their defence has been very good on home soil and their home clean sheet ratio of 41% is the best in the division.

Mansfield’s three-match unbeaten run came to an end last time out against already-promoted Portsmouth, however, as mentioned earlier, with just two points between themselves and the play-offs, they will fancy their chances – particularly against a rather poor Crawley outfit. It is also worth mentioning that this match sees manager Steve Evans visit the team he managed for five years up until 2012.

The Stags’ excellent back-line has been the main catalyst for their success this campaign. Their record of just 48 conceded in 45 matches is the fifth-best in the division whilst their clean sheet ratio of 36% is the second-best in the league. The aforementioned three-match unbeaten run saw them keep two clean sheets in that time. Offensively though, they are not great and their Goals For record of 52 is the worst in the top 17. Furthermore, they have failed to score two or more in a match in their last six attempts.

Away form has been good for Evans’s side recently having won their last two. Additionally, throughout the course of the season, they have conceded just 27 goals in 21 games away from Field Mill, keeping eight clean sheets in the process. However, goals have been hard to come by with just 21 scored – only Accrington Stanley have a worse away scoring record in League Two.

Although Mansfield struggle in the final third, they do still pull results out of the bag and I expect them to do the same again here against a Crawley side looking for the season to end quickly. Given that neither side score too many goals and Crawley’s good home clean sheet record, an outrageously high-scoring game doesn’t seem all that likely. With this mind, ‘Mansfield to Win & Under 4.5 Goals’ looks good.

More League Two tips can be found here.

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