Monday, 25 January 2021

Will Crawley be a stern FA Cup test for the Cherries?

The FA Cup fourth round sees the Cherries take on Leeds United's conquerers Crawley Town on Tuesday night. The West Sussex side are in good form having knocked out a Premier League team 3-0, even if it was mainly Leeds Utd's youth players, and they sit 12 in League Two where they have won their last two league games.

How far can AFCB go in the FA Cup this season?

Suddenly, playing a League Two team that is in form doesn't look like a pushover for AFCB. The Cherries could well be pushed all the way in this fixture. Crawley's main striker has been Max Watters, who was free-scoring, having netted 15 times in 18 games this season and he has been well supported by Tom Nichols who has scored 10 times from 24 games. Luckily for Bournemouth, Cardiff City came in for Max Watters on 16 January and he is no longer a Crawley player. Ashley Nadesan could fill his place or Crawley could turn to  Sam Ashford. Less likely are forwards Ricardo German or Brian Galach. But Crawley have goalscorers in their defenders too - just watch back the goal that defender Nick Tsaroulla scored as the opener against Leeds in the last round of the cup. Defender, Jordan Tunnicliffe also scored against Leeds following a free kick.

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How Crawley do in front of goal without their leading League Two striker decide their fate in this game. Crawley have also signed Mark Wright in this window, a defender who is best known for his TV role on The Only Way is Essex. Crawley have also signed James Tilley from Grimsby Town during January, another forward. Winger Jordan Maguire-Drew has also joined Crawley on loan until the end of the season. Several of them may well be cup tied.

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It may well also help Bournemouth that Crawley haven't played since 10 January when they knocked out Leeds Utd. They have had to postpone fixtures against Bradford and Stevenage Borough as well as rearrange this FA Cup match because of the COVID-19 outbreak at their club. Their away record is not too shoddy though. They beat Bolton Wanderers in their last away match 0-1 as well as Forest Green 1-2 and Leyton Orient 1-2, the last two both held in December. 

The winners of the tie will play Burnley after they beat Fulham yesterday.

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Previous post on Cherry Chimes - Could Bournemouth o for Burnley swap deal?

 

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1 comment:

  1. Alain25 January 2021 at 10:32

    I think you will find that it wasn't Leeds Youth team that we played it was players from the first team including full internationals - Max Watters hadn't played in the previous 3 matches and came on as a late substitute in the Leeds game - so we won't actually miss him.

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