Recently-promoted Crawley Town's 2024-25 League One season is set to begin on Saturday, when they face Blackpool at Broadfield Stadium.
The home side finished seventh in League Two with 70 points from 46 games last term but won the division's promotion playoffs, while the visitors finished eighth in League One with 73 points from 46 matches.
Match preview
The hosts will be delighted that they have been promoted to League One after having spent nine seasons in League Two.
Crawley's promotion last term may have come as a surprise to some fans considering they finished third last in 22nd place with just 46 points in 2022-23.
Manager Scott Lindsey has been in charge since January 2023, and his side successfully defeated Milton Keynes Dons 8-1 on aggregate in the semi-final of the playoffs before beating Crewe Alexandra 2-0 in the final at Wembley on May 19.
The Red Devils scored 73 goals and conceded 67 times last campaign, and this made them the league's joint seventh-best offensive and ninth-best defensive team.
Lindsey's side come into the game having won three times, drawn once and lost twice in their seven pre-season friendlies, including a 1-1 draw last time out against Ebbsfleet United on August 3.
Interestingly, Crawley's form in the last 13 home games in the League Two regular season was mixed, with the club winning just four times in that period.
Opponents Blackpool were relegated from the Championship in 2022-23 after finishing second last in 23rd place, and they will be disappointed to have missed out on League One's promotion playoffs after finishing two places and three points behind sixth-placed Barnsley.
The visitors scored 65 goals and conceded 48 times in League One last term, and these were the division's joint eighth-best offensive and fifth best defensive records respectively.
Neil Critchley has been in charge of the Seasiders since May 2023, and has an overall record of 30 wins, 11 draws and 18 losses.
Critchley's side failed to reach the playoffs on the final day of the 2023-24 League One season on account of losing 3-2 against Reading, who finished in 17th place.
The memory of that match will be particularly haunting for the Blackpool manager, as his team initially took the lead after four minutes thanks to a goal from Karamoko Dembele.
The away side come into the game having lost three of their six pre-season friendlies, though they did win 2-0 last time out against Crewe Alexandra on August 3.
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Team News
The hosts could look to start their newest signing Panutche Camara in midfield on Saturday.
Crawley could also start Harry Forster, while loanee Cameron Bragg could also make an appearance.
As for the visitors, they could start signing Elkan Baggott in defence alongside Oliver Casey and Matthew Pennington.
Jordan Rhodes and Kyle Joseph could form a partnership in the forward line, both of whom scored against Crewe Alexandra last time out.
Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Wollacott; Flint, Mullarkey, Conroy, Forster; Holohan, Bragg; Darcy, Camara, Kelly; Hepburn-Murphy
Blackpool possible starting lineup:
Grimshaw; Pennington, Casey, Baggott; Hamilton, Evans, Norburn, Carey, Coulson; Rhodes, Joseph
We say: Crawley Town 1-2 Blackpool
Although Crawley were capable of playing exciting football last season, their home record was not particularly strong in the second half of the 2023-24 campaign.
Blackpool will feel they can take advantage of this on Saturday, and if they can use their higher-level experience on the day, they could achieve victory.
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