Match Preview: Crawley Town vs Crystal Palace
Fixture Overview
This Friday, Crystal Palace will travel to Broadfield Stadium to face Crawley Town in a pre‑season friendly scheduled for 18:30 UTC. The match is seen as a stepping stone in Palace’s build-up towards the new season and the Community Shield showdown against Liverpool on August 10.
Recent Form & Historical Matchups
Palace enter the match as firm favourites, having comfortably defeated Crawley in each of the previous two summers, winning 4‑0 in 2023 and 6‑3 in 2024, while netting 10 goals across those fixtures. Last season, Crawley struggled in League One and finished relegated after a turbulent campaign, featuring multiple managerial changes and inconsistent form under Scott Lindsey.
Palace’s Pre‑Season Focus
For Crystal Palace, this is only their second friendly of the summer, following their 1‑0 win over Millwall, with Jesurun Rak‑Sakyi scoring the decisive goal.
Manager Oliver Glasner is expected to field a stronger side here as preparations intensify ahead of fixtures against Augsburg and the Community Shield. Palace remain hopeful of a strong domestic start and a return to European competition via this season’s Conference League playoffs, following their unexpected Europa League demotion.
Crawley’s Challenge
Crawley arrive having lost recent friendlies, most recently a 2‑1 defeat against Southampton’s U21 side, continuing a pattern from matches where they conceded heavily in high-scoring encounters. After earning promotion via the League Two playoffs, they endured a tough League One season marked by boardroom changes and departing players, a situation that has contributed to their difficult campaign.
Preview & Prediction
Crystal Palace boast superior depth, quality, and pre-season momentum. Even with possible squad rotation, they’re likely to control the game as it progresses.
Crawley, playing at home, may show fight early on and attempt to make the most of moments, but matching Palace’s tempo and quality will be a tall order.
Summary
Fixture: Crawley Town vs Crystal Palace (Friendly)
Date & Time: Friday, July 25, 2025 – 18:30 UTC
Venue: Broadfield Stadium
Form:
Crawley – inconsistent pre-season, recent loss to Southampton U21s
Palace – unbeaten, strong previous results, clear favourites
Prediction: Expect a Crystal Palace victory—likely by a comfortable margin.