Crewe Alex v Accrington Stanley 25-26 Preview - Where's Whalley?!

There are many, many reasons why the Alex's play-off ambitions fell apart last season. Injuries, poor managerial choices, a lack of talent. But I would argue they all added up into one of the biggest issues Lee Bell faces as he tries to turn both this sides and his own fortunes around: Their home form. They put up 39, 38 and 33 points across the last 3 seasons respectively, which is a worrying trend that needs to be rectified. Well, that starts with the visit of Accrington for the opening fixture of the season at Gresty Road. Here is my preview of the game:

Build on It

It's been 4 years since they won their opening 2 games of the season, but they have a fantastic chance to do just that in this one. We are all on a high after the great performance and result at Salford, but what this now does is raise expectations. Doing it in an environment away from home where the pressure is off to a certain extent, is good.

But it's in your home games where you want to see consistency and some good performances. as that's where the bulk of your paying customers watch you on a regular basis. Obviously the focus will be on this game alone, but in their back to back home games against Accy and Crawley, they have a great chance to pick up several more points to turn a good opening game into a good opening 2 and 3. I hope they don't pass up that opportunity.

Consistency

One of the big bug bears with Bell is that he often tried to chop and change depending on the opposition last season. Ok, some of that was form and injury dependent, but often he would make unnecessary changes that disrupted flow and rhythm. He now has a great chance to not overthink things, go with the same system and start to build a bit of chemistry in what is still a new look formation and group of players.

I don't think any Crewe fan expects a level of performance similar to last week. It would be nice, but having 10 shots on target and a 3.94 xG every week isn't going to happen. But if Bell lets his squad settle and learn to play together, then maybe displays like the one at Salford can go from one offs to more common occurrences.

Strugglers

Turning a good opener into a good 2nd game is possible as they've been presented with a favourable fixture on paper. Accrington are a side on the slide and could well end up down near the bottom of the table again this season. Last season they finished 21st, their lowest pyramid finish since joining the EFL back in 2006. It was also the 4th straight season they've finished in a lower spot in the pyramid than the season before, which is a worrying trend for them.

Now, I'm not for one second underestimating them. They embarrassed and humbled the Alex last season at Gresty Road when they emerged with a 1-0 win back in February. They were also surprisingly decent on the road last season as well. Yes, they lost 13 games, but they also won 7, beating Chesterfield, Colchester, Salford and Walsall, which is a decent collection of scalps. They know how to pick up wins when not many expect them to. But in saying that, this is still a game the Alex need to be targeting a win from for sure.

Where's Whalley?

In coming back to my preview title, whilst Accy have a number of danger men, including Tyler Walton and Ben & Josh Woods, the biggest threat is likely to be Shaun Whalley, should he play. The veteran attacker has just turned 38 and he still packs a punch, as the Alex found out in January when he lofted a 30 yard chip over Filip Marschall's head to give Accy the game winner. He's a real handful and I hope the Alex do a better job guarding him than they did in the last fixture. And if he doesn't play, the title fits even better.

Fresher?

I'm a broken record I know as I often raise this point when an opponent plays in midweek and the Alex don't, but that could be a factor in this game. Whilst the Alex were sat at home relaxing on Tuesday evening, Accy were battling away in the League Cup preliminary round against Oldham. Now, a number of their potential starters were absent from that game and for the others, maybe that extra fitness work will do them good and allow them to build up their match sharpness. But it could also mean they aren't quite as at it in the latter stages of this game and that will hand the Alex the advantage.

Score First

The first goal in any game is vital. But for the Alex, I feel like it could be doubly important in the opening weeks whilst they wait for some of their attacking talent to come back and for their squad to settle down. Last season at home, they conceded the opening goal on 11 occasions, which in itself is too high.

But on only 3 of those occasions did they recover to grab a result, those being against Salford(draw), Tranmere(win) and Carlisle(win). Their overall record was 2-1-8 and only twice did they even score in those 8 defeats, those being the games against Fleetwood and Cheltenham.

Obviously if they fall behind first in this game, it won't be a disaster or game over. But I would like to see them carry on the positive momentum from last week by grabbing the first goal, as I don't think I want to see them tested on how they recover from 1-0 down just yet.

Ref Watch

Richard Eley

Drumroll please..........we've got another rookie ref! Yeeey, it didn't take long. Eley is making just his 10th appearance as an EFL ref, having done 9 games last season. His 4.5 yellows per game last season were a little on the high side and it'll be curious to see how he does in his first game this season.

2025-26 Record: N/A

Last Game: Wealdstone 3-1 Halifax, 5th May 2025, National League Premier, 4 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: N/A

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

The injury situation looks identical to last week doesn't it? There appear to be no fresh concerns and we are several weeks away from seeing Lankester and Holicek still, so hopefully they have the same group available to them as last week.

Accrington

Well, it's hard to get a read on who might be in or out for Accy. Missing last Saturday was Shaun Whalley, Benn Ward, Dan Martin and Connor O'Brien. Then on Tuesday against Oldham, they were down all those players plus 5 starters from the opening game in GK Michael Kelly, Conor Grant, Josh Smith and Ben Woods. How many of these players are fit to play in this game, I don't know.

Team

Same again right? I don't think you can argue that any changes are warranted at this point in time. The shortest and easiest team discussion you're ever likely to see.

With no new additions though, the bench is likely to stay thin, as evidenced by the fact that when Callum Agius and Tommi O'Reilly came off, they had to push Owen Lunt and Charlie Finney into those spots.

Score Prediction

They haven't won the opening 2 games in a season since 2022-23. They did that by beating a north Greater Manchester opponent away from home in the opening game before beating a more Northerly team in the 2nd game at home. Can history repeat itself? I'm going to get over confident and greedy and ask for another comfortable win and a clean sheet to boot.

Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Accrington Stanley