Southend v Crawley: away form of visitors a cause for concern

Crawley’s charge towards League One is in serious jeopardy and their miserable recent run can be expected to continue as they travel to fellow promotion-pushers Southend next.

Southend look amazing value at 5/4 in the League Two odds to claim the three points, having ended a run of two successive defeats with a victory at Burton.

For Southend and Crawley the fixture represents a second outing in three days and for the visitors it could not have come at a worse time.

Having gone 17 successive League Two game weeks positioned in the automatic promotion places, Crawley have slumped of late having been top as recently as a month ago.

Prior to visiting Southend they have taken one point from a possible 12, with the latest result being a home defeat against Torquay.

Meanwhile, Crawley are without a victory in their last six away games and do not have the best record on their travels against the clubs in promotion contention.

Swindon, Cheltenham and Shrewsbury are the other three clubs in the top four at present aside from Southend and Crawley have lost their away encounters with each of them.

Furthermore, Southend have won all of their home games to have taken place so far this season against clubs currently in the top ten in the league standings, apart from table-toppers Swindon.

Crawley will have to get their act together soon if wanting to at worst finish among the play-off places, but the fact they have as many as three games in hand over some clubs means that their destiny remains in their own hands.

It is 17/10 that Crawley get back to winning ways at Southend, while the draw can be backed at 9/4 that would arguably be accepted by both teams in their current positions.