Crewe Alex v Barnet 25-26 Preview - Welcome Back

It's funny, but Barnet were a non-league side up until the early 90s. They've only spent 21 seasons in the EFL, but them being away for the last 7 years felt both right and wrong at the same time. Looking back at their recent history, it's crazy to think they avoided relegation to the 6th tier in 20-21 purely because the National League North/South didn't complete the season.

They used that reprieve to catapult themselves back into the EFL and they are now looking to follow in the footsteps of Wrexham and Stockport and get into L1. Here is my preview of their visit to Gresty Road for the first time in 8 years:

Unbeaten

The Alex are going into this game with a unbeaten run of games against Barnet at Gresty Road to protect. They've only played each other 7 times in Cheshire, but the Alex are 6-1-0 with a 24-7 scored-conceded record. 5 of their 6 wins have been multi-goal margins as well. They have had a very good run of form against Barnet over the years, but this will be possibly their toughest test yet as they come up against the newly promoted Bees.

Tactics

It'll be curious to see how Barnet play in this game. They were promoted on the back of a reputation for playing good passing football. But in their 2 away wins against Swindon and Cheltenham, they went to route one football, putting up just 162.5 successful passes and a 59% passing success rate across both games. That is way down on their 354(80%) from their opening game against Bromley.

With the always tricky targetman Ollie Hawkins upfront, they are more likely to go direct, so I hope Bell has done his homework and knows what version of Barnet to set up for, because it might not be the one they expect.

Issues

The Alex come into this game with a few problems. But Barnet have plenty more at this point, starting with their goalkeeper. Starting stopper Ciaran Slicker has a measly 55.6 save percentage, the 3rd worst amongst qualified keepers. His goals prevented is a league worst 3.6. Defensively they aren't great either, conceding 10 goals, some in comical fashion. See their first against Fleetwood and their first against Shrewsbury. They are a side which will cough up presentable chances, it'll be up to the Alex to take them.

Pressure

After 3 games without a win, I'd argue for the first time since the opening day that there is a little bit of pressure on the Alex's management. Ok, the Swindon defeat was the only real abomination, but the trends shown over the last 3 league games have been concerning. The all round performances haven't been great and have led to just 1 goal scored and 1 point gained.

I do suspect if the winless run stretches to 4 games AND it does so due to poor all round play, then we could see the first murmurings of dissent from home fans. With a full free week of training and this being back at Gresty Road, we really need to see something resembling the performances of the first 4 games.

Referee Watch

Declan Bourne

Ah, a familiar face. His last game was as recently as April, when he came to Gresty Road for the visit of Cheltenham. As I mentioned then, he's an unremarkable ref and for that, I am actually quite grateful. Hopefully he has another non-descript game.

2025-25 Record: 3 games(1 League One, 1 League Two, 1 EFL Trophy), 16 yellows, 2 reds

Last Game: Shrewsbury Town 1-3 Walsall, 2nd September 2025, EFL Trophy, 5 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 3-0-4, 8 yellows, 1 red

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

Bell revealed that Conor Thomas is back in contention for this match after missing the last 2 through injury, which is good news and could see Jack Powell pushed totally out of the squad. Also closing in on a return is Jack Lankester, although you suspect after 4 months out, he is unlikely to be included in the squad until Barrow or probably Notts County at the earliest given the length of time he's been out.

Barnet

I believe Emmanuel Osadebe is serving the last of a 3 game ban. Also missing from last week's squad were Rhys Browne, Lee Ndlovu, Joe Hugill, Ollie Kensdale and Romoney Crichlow, so they could be down a number of players.

Team

For me, the team is quite simple. If they want to play a 4-2-3-1 or some version of it, then play 4 defenders, 2 midfielders, a number 10, 2 wingers and a striker. Luckily enough, they have players for each of those positions available to them. Agius comes back in after what was essentially a week off and slots back in on the LW. Tezgel drops into the number 10 spot behind March, who moves back to the striker position. Sanders and Lunt operate in midfield and the back 4 stays the same as last week. As does the goalkeeper.

If people want to talk me into switching out Golding for Connolly and Mingi for Billington, I'm here for it. On paper, the bench once again should be full of options no matter what the starting XI will be.

Score Prediction

I can't not predict a win here. I've been to 2 home games and they won both. I've not been to 1 home game and it was the one they lost. Thankfully, I'm going to this one. No game this early in the season is a must win, but they really could do with getting 3 points here, because that 4 match winning streak is starting to fade into the distance.

Crewe Alexandra 2-1 Barnet