Preview: Crawley Town vs. Southampton Under-21s - prediction, team news, lineups

The bottom two teams in Southern Group G of the EFL Trophy will lock horns in West Sussex on Tuesday evening, as Crawley Town welcome Southampton Under-21s.

Neither side has a chance of advancing to the next round of the competition, with both losing their first two games in the section to Charlton Athletic and Leyton Orient.

Match preview

© Reuters

Crawley suffered their fifth straight defeat in all competitions on Saturday afternoon, as they exited the FA Cup in the first round courtesy of a 1-0 home loss to Tranmere Rovers.

The Reds have also lost each of their last four in the league against Sutton United, Exeter City, Scunthorpe United and Port Vale, with the run of results leaving them in 18th position in the League Two table.

Crawley have also found it difficult to compete in this season's EFL Trophy, opening their challenge with a 6-1 loss at Charlton Athletic at the end of August before going down 4-0 at home to Orient on October 5.

Head coach John Yems will be hoping that his side can at least end their losing run on Tuesday evening, and the Red Devils will then not be back in action until a trip to Barrow on November 20, as next week's contest with Swindon Town has been postponed due to international call-ups for Ben Garner's side.

Southampton Under-21s, meanwhile, have also lost their opening two matches in the section, going down 1-0 at Orient on September 14 before losing 4-1 to Charlton on October 5, meaning that they also cannot qualify for the next round of the competition.

The Saints gave a good account of themselves in the clash with Orient in the middle of September, with only a late goal from Antony Papadopoulos separating the two teams at the end of the 90 minutes.

However, David Horseman's side were well beaten at Charlton towards the start of last month, falling three goals behind inside the first 45 minutes before conceding another late on after Olly Lancashire had registered.

There is nothing to play for on Tuesday in terms of this competition, but the Southampton youngsters will be hoping to potentially catch the eye of their first-team manager with an impressive performance.

Team News

Crawley boss Yems will make wholesale changes to his starting side for this match, with Amrit Bansal-McNulty, who came off the bench on Saturday, among those likely to be in the team.

There had been five changes to the team from the clash with Port Vale for the FA Cup fixture, and there will now be a number of youngsters on display for the League Two outfit.

There should be a spot in midfield for Owen Gallacher, while Alex Battle, who has only made one league appearance this season, is likely to operate at the tip of the attack.

As for Southampton Under-21s, it would not be a surprise to see a similar side to the one that lined up against Charlton in their last EFL Trophy clash at the start of October.

Head coach Horseman selected a 3-4-3 formation last time out and that could again be the case here, with 18-year-old Ramello Mitchell leading the line for the visitors.

Crawley Town possible starting lineup:
Henry; Davies, Dallison-Lisbon, Craig, Gallacher; Tilley, Bansal-McNulty, Powell, Marshall; Salah-Edine; Battle

Southampton Under-21s possible starting lineup:
Bycroft; Olufunwa, Lancashire, Simeu; Otseh-Taiwo, Ballard, Chauke, Payne; Doyle, Mitchell, Watts

We say: Crawley Town 1-0 Southampton Under-21s

Both managers will be desperate to end their group-stage campaign with a win regardless of the fact that it will not mean too much in the grand scheme of things. Crawley should, in theory, have more experience on the field for this match, and we are backing the League Two club to record a narrow win.

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