The Blues start the new season at home playing the very team they ended their Brunton Park campaign against last term – the Red Devils of Crawley.
Transfer activity
Gabriele Cioffi – starting his first full season as the club’s manager – has pulled together a large squad, having started his recruitment early in May when he snapped up forwards Ashley Nadesan and Mason Bloomfield.
Nadesan, of course, was a summer target for United, but a move closer to home appealed, meanwhile Bloomfield joined on a season-long loan from newly promoted top-flight outfit Norwich City.
A string of other arrivals, including defender Nathan Ferguson from Dulwich Hamlet, midfielders Beryly Lubala and Jack Powell, the former from Birmingham, centre back Jordan Tunnicliffe from Fylde, keeper Michael Luyambula, also from Birmingham, and teenage defender George Forrest from the non-league circuit have bolstered the numbers in the dressing room to 28, with some tough selection problems ahead for the ambitious manager.
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Last season
Crawley battled their way to a 19th spot finish, largely thanks to a much better run of results from their last five games. Indeed, their 4-2 defeat here in Cumbria was the only loss during that run of fixtures.
With the Italian boss now very much in the hotseat, they’ll be looking for a much better showing this time round.
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From the manager
Speaking ahead of the game, Steven Pressley said: "As with every first game, it’s difficult for us to understand fully as to what to expect from the opposition, although we have watched their last two pre-season performances.
"You never get a true reflection of how a team will play from a friendly game, and that’s why the important factor will be for ourselves to concentrate on delivering the phases of play we’ve continually worked on these past few weeks and, subsequently, we will get a good performance from that.
"It won't be easy, no game is at this level, but it's a game we are looking forward to. When the fixtures were released the one thing I was pleased about was that we had a home game, because it gives our supporters the chance to get behind their team.
"A good performance will lift everybody, and I'm looking forward to hearing the fans cheer the lads on as we look to open the season in the right way."
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Head2Head
|
|
Carlisle wins |
Draws |
Crawley wins |
|
League |
7 |
5 |
2 |
|
Total |
7 |
5 |
2 |
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Highlights from previous meetings
Carlisle United 4 – 2 Crawley Town, 27 April 2019
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Crawley Town 2 – 3 Carlisle United, 22 December 2018
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Carlisle United 2 – 2 Crawley Town, 17 March 2018
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Crawley Town 0 – 1 Carlisle United, 30 September 2017
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The man in the middle
Referee – James Oldham
Assistant Referee 1 – Geoffrey Liddle
Assistant Referee 2 – Helen Byrne
Fourth Official – Barry Gordon
Referee James Oldham heads into the EFL for the first time this season having ended his time with the National League at Wembley with the play-off final between Salford City and AFC Fylde in May.
He took charge of 19 games last season showing 55 yellow cards and three reds.
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Is that a fact?
It’s now 11 league meetings between these two combatants since Crawley Town last came away with a victory.
On 29 September 2012 it was Nathan Byrne and, would you believe, Nicky Adams who scored the second half goals to earn a 2-0 away win for the Red Devils.
Since then the sides have drawn five times, with the Blues winning the other six.
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Match tickets
Full home match ticket details are HERE.
You can purchase your tickets online HERE.
Tickets purchased online can be printed at home, or you can show your ticket on arrival at the ground on your phone or device, where you will then be scanned into the stadium.
Remember, you can buy your tickets for Saturday home games at the ticket pod in Fisher Street branch of The Cumberland in the town centre.
The ticket pod is open on Thursdays (home game weekends only) between 10am and 3pm and on Fridays (home game weekends only) between 10am and 4pm.
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iFollow the Blues
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Click HERE to sign up for full match commentary, in association with BBC Radio Cumbria.
