The opening day of the 2019/20 season also saw Reds travel to Carlisle in a game that they lost 2-1. The Blues have proved to be a bogey side for the Red Devils, with Crawley only winning one of 18 encounters between the sides in the football league. Kevin Betsy will be taking his Crawley side up to Cumbria with optimism, following a good pre-season, which culminated in their only defeat last Saturday at Aldershot. Although results don’t matter too much in pre-season it’s hard to ignore Crawley’s impressive draws with QPR and Hearts, which saw Betsy’s side play really impressive football. Attacking football that’s played on the floor can be expected from Betsy’s Reds throughout the season and the game at Carlisle gives Crawley a chance to showcase what they can do against fellow League Two opposition. The style of play Betsy is looking to employ will take time to get right as we have seen a few mistakes during pre-season, with the players adapting to playing out from the back. However, with enough time The Reds could become an impressive outfit as they certainly don’t look short for goals going forward. The signing of Dom Telford really showed the intent of the club, with last seasons top scorer in League Two choosing Crawley over many other clubs from this league and from higher up the pyramid. The recruitment has looked impressive over the summer for the Sussex side and the squad looks to have great depth to cover for injuries and suspensions, which they may have lacked in previous years. Despite this they do face a tricky opening day fixture with Carlisle enjoying a good pre-season under Paul Simpson. There seems to be an emphasis on youth at Carlisle with only one of their summer signings being over 25 years old. That man is big goalkeeper Tomas Holy, who was released from Ipswich this summer and is a very good keeper at this level. Simpson certainly improved Carlisle when he came into the job in February and with him now being able to recruit the players he wants The Blues could be an even stronger outfit this season if they continue to kick on. An interesting opening day clash is to be expected as two fairly newly put together squads go head-to-head and as always in League Two anything can happen.