Salford will take on Crewe Alexandra in a clash at the Peninsula Stadium in their opening League Two fixture. Both teams will be eyeing a winning start as the journey to League One promotion begins.
Salford finished eighth in League Two last season and will look to improve on that this season. They are unbeaten in their last 10 matches in all competitions and played out a 1-1 home draw with Stockport County in their final preseason game.
One thing manager Karl Robinson will be keen to improve on is Salford’s home form, having found things difficult in front of their fans last season. They are winless in six of their last seven League Two matches.
Crewe Alexandra are also looking to improve on last season's performance after finishing 13th in the table. Lee Bell’s men endured a difficult end to the season, failing to win any of their final six League Two matches, suffering five defeats on this run.
Those struggles seem to be back in the build-up to the new season as Crewe Alexandra have lost their last two matches. They will travel to Peninsula Stadium off the back of a 2-1 defeat at Southport in their final warm-up outing.
How the bookies view it: Bookies backing Salford
Salford have the upper hand among the bookies and are priced at 4/5 by BoyleSports to claim the win. A victory for Crewe Alexandra is valued at 13/5 while a draw is set at odds of 11/4.
Head to head: Salford in the lead
Salford have a 4-2 advantage with two draws from eight previous matches against Crewe Alexandra. Both teams drew their matches last season, with both meetings ending in 1-1 draws.
Players to watch: Stockton to shine
Cole Stockton led Salford with 16 league goals last season and is expected to lead the way for them this term. The forward should feature up front with Habeeb Adelakun, who bagged 13 goals last season, and both men could help the hosts produce over 1.5 goals – priced at 3/4 on BoyleSports.
Crewe Alexandra will look to winger Jack Lankester, who netted seven times last season. With Ryan Cooney also involved in the attacking plays, both men can combine to produce over 0.5 goals – valued at 4/11 with BoyleSports.
Probable line-ups:
Matty Young should remain between the sticks for Salford, who should also have Luke Garbutt in defence. Kallum Cesay, Ossama Ashley, and Ben Woodburn also should keep their midfield spots, with Stockton leading the line.
For Crewe, Tom Booth should start in goal, with Lewis Billington and Conor Thomas starting in defence and midfield respectively. Lankester should get a spot in attack together with Adrien Thibaut and Calum Agius.
Salford: Young, Garbutt, Mnoga, Edwards, Cesay, Woodburn, Ashley, Adelakun, Grant, Stockton, Bird
Crewe: Booth; Billington, Hutchinson, Demetriou, Connolly, Thomas, Sanders, Lunt, Agius, Thibaut, Lankester
Anything else catch the eye?
Salford and Crewe Alexandra have scored in their last five meetings (BTTS YES – available at 8/13 with BoyleSports). Three of those fixtures have produced over 2.5 goals – offered at odds of 7/10.
The hosts have scored first in the last three matches against Crewe Alexandra (Salford to score first – set at odds of 8/13).
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