Preview: Crawley Town vs. Newport County - prediction, team news, lineups

Both teams will be aiming to build on respectable draws last time out in League Two when Crawley Town host Newport County on Saturday.

Crawley drew 3-3 away to Stockport County, while Newport held AFC Wimbledon to a share of the spoils.

Match preview

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After being thrashed 6-0 by Swindon Town in their previous match, Crawley must have been fearing the worst when they fell 2-0 behind to Stockport last weekend, but they produced a tremendous fightback to gain a positive result at Edgeley Park.

In fact, Scott Lindsey would have been disappointed not to see his side win in the end, with his team leading until the last two minutes of normal time. However, Isaac Olaofe's late strike meant that the two teams came out equal from a topsy-turvy encounter.

The Red Devils were involved in another thrilling contest in midweek, coming from behind once again to defeat League One side Charlton Athletic 4-3 in the EFL Trophy, which should hugely boost their confidence of picking up another positive result against Newport on Saturday.

A win would see them leapfrog their opponents and potentially move into the playoff positions depending on results elsewhere, which would be a remarkable return considering that Crawley were one of the favourites to be relegated this season.

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Likewise, Newport have performed above expectations during the early weeks of the campaign, with Graham Coughlan's side sitting in sixth on 10 points from their opening six matches.

The Exiles are unbeaten in their last four games in all competitions, including an impressive 1-1 draw against Premier League side Brentford in the EFL Cup before being beaten on penalties.

Following wins against Forest Green and Sutton United, Newport came from two goals behind to claim a 2-2 draw against unbeaten Wimbledon last weekend, with Will Evans and Omar Bogle demonstrating their qualities at this level by both getting on the scoresheet.

Should they come away from Broadfield Stadium with all three points this weekend, there will be real optimism that Coughlan's side can challenge for the playoff spots once again after a couple of quieter seasons finishing in the middle of the table.

Team News

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Lindsey made eight changes for his side's win against Charlton in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday, so he is likely to revert to a more similar starting XI from last weekend's draw against Stockport.

That should mean Adam Campbell, Laurence Maguire and Danilo Orsi all slot straight back into the hosts' lineup after each of them scored in the North-West last time out.

Newport, meanwhile, could be fresher after having a free midweek, with Coughlan likely to reward his players by naming an unchanged side after they showed excellent courage to come from behind and claim a point against Wimbledon.

Evans, who crucially pulled one goal back on the stroke of half time during that 2-2 draw, has been nominated for League Two's Player of the Month and will continue to operate from the right flank.

Crawley Town possible starting lineup:

Addai; Wright, Williams, Ransom, Maguire; Forster, Gladwin, Kelly, Tsaroulla; Orsi, Campbell

Newport County possible starting lineup:

Townsend; McLoughlin, Clarke, Delaney, Lewis; Evans, Wildig, Bennett, Morris; Bogle, Charsley

We say: Crawley Town 2-2 Newport County

Both sides came from two goals behind to claim draws last weekend, and we would not be surprised if the two sides end up sharing the spoils once again on Saturday.

Neither team have impressed defensively so far this season but they have each shown they are capable of scoring plenty of goals, so we are predicting a high-scoring draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.