Crewe Alex v Barrow 25-26 Preview - Struggles All Round

What do you call a side that struggles to beat strugglers? Because that would be a fitting description for Crewe Alex right now. Well, I'm honestly thankful that this game is the last home fixture they have against a genuine, bona fide struggler. I'm pleased that in the coming weeks they have teams like Colchester, Gillingham and Fleetwood coming to town, because we 'might' see some better results. I stress the word 'might' though. Anyway, here is my preview of the visit of Barrow to Gresty Road:

Better Away

Much like Harrogate, Barrow might be struggling, but they are finding more success on the road than they are at home this season. They are 22nd in the home table, but 13th in the away table. They have gone to Walsall, Colchester and Gillingham and come away with results. Their 5 away defeats have all been by a single goal. They have found a way to stay competitive on the road and after seeing Newport, Bristol Rovers and Harrogate come away from Gresty Road with draws, they'll fancy their chances of doing the same and maybe more.

New Manager Bounce

The Alex have been catching teams just when they've changed managers recently haven't they? Even though there have only been 4 in season sackings in League Two to date, the Alex have ended up being the first away league game for 3 of those clubs. First Christian Fuchs with Newport. Then Steve Evans with Bristol Rovers. Now Paul Gallagher with Barrow. With the latter 2, the Alex have been their first opponent full stop. Will Gallagher, like Fuchs and Evans, be enjoying a positive result in his first game in charge?

Rested or rusty?

Barrow have not played since January 1st, which simple maths tells you is 16 days between games. Does that mean that they will come into this game fresh, well prepared and ready to give a good performance under their new manager?

Or will they be lacking fluency having not tested their new ideas/systems in a real game? Will their players be rusty and out of sorts? It can truly go both ways.

Same Issues

As for the Alex, their issues are clear, but I wanted to focus on 2 issues in particular. The first is their inability to win tight margin games. Of their 9 league wins this season, 6 have been by multi goal margins(3-1 x 2, 2-0, 4-1 x 3). Yet 2 of their 3 single goal wins were achieved in the 95th and 87th minutes.

They're 2nd issue is that when they score the first goal in a game, they far too often are unable to score the 2nd. They've gone 1-0 up 14 times this season. Yet on an incredible 9 occasions out of those 14, the opposition have been the next team to score. The other 5 times where the opposition didn't score to make it 1-1 were the wins over Accrington(to nil), Crawley(to nil), Fleetwood(after they were 4-0 up), Tranmere(after they were 4-0 up) and Cheltenham(after they were 3-0 up).

Well, as stated above, they are playing a Barrow team that don't lose heavily on the road and are able to keep the game tight. Something the Alex have struggled with. I'm not too sure how this one will go to be honest.

Positivity

I feel as down as the next fan about the Alex and their prospects for the rest of the season. However, take out the results and look at the underlying stats across their last 7 home games. It will tell you that on the whole, they have done well. Here is a table showing as much:

Stat	Crewe Alex	Opponents
Goals	17	11
Shots on Target	39	24
Total Shots	118	88
Corners	35	21
xG(open play)	8.06	6.28
xG(set pieces)	2.83	1.68
xG Total	11.66	7.98
Minutes Winning	194	51

Yes, most of those games were against strugglers, so you'd hope and expect them to be dominating the stats. But this is a massive discrepancy and it shows how, unfortunately, they have been small margins away from 4-6 more points.

But much as we saw last season when they went 6-0-5 against bottom half teams, they are finding it hard to get over the line. Well, as mentioned, this is their last chance against a proper struggler. They can't let another opportunity for 3 points at home slip. Not when you realise they have the teams in 8th, 1st and 9th coming up to end January.

Ref Watch

Seb Stockbridge

Oh goodie. One of the worst refs in the EFL is back for another go around. He last took charge of the home game against Crawley back in August and whilst he didn't cost the Alex a result, he was awful in that game from memory.

2025-26 Record: 22 games(11 League One, 8 League Two, 1 National League, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup), 95 yellows, 3 reds

Last Game: Harrogate Town 0-2 Tranmere Rovers, EFL League Two, 1st January 2026, 3 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 7-3-9, 27 yellows

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

No players expected back was the message from Lee Bell's press conference. And with no new signings, it means they'll be thin on the ground for useable subs.

Barrow

Defender Niall Canavan is serving yet another ban for his 3rd red card of the season. Other players missing from their game at Salford on New Year's Day were Lewis Shipley, Rhys Healey, Tyler Walker, Kane Hemmings(lol), Sam Foley, Michael Adu-Poku and Tom Barkhuizen.

Team

Same as last week basically. The depth is so poor, none of them warrant a start right now, so asking for changes is pointless. The only one I could think of is Alfie Pond for James Connolly at RCB, but I'm not there just yet. Lawlor of course keeps his spot in goal, as do the rest of the outfield starters from last week.

As for the bench, yikes. Do they go big and drop Finney, Powell, Moult and Thibaut and simply throw in Hodkin, Moore, Armstrong and Dancey? Bell won't do it, but if he does name the senior names mentioned and he has to bring them on and it costs him once again, things could turn sour in the ground.

Score Prediction

I've said the same before Newport and Harrogate though, there is a reason Barrow are near the bottom of the table. They have won one of their last 11 games. They rank low in most major stats tables. There is zero reason why the Alex can't get the win. So once again, that's what I'm hoping they can go and do.

Crewe Alexandra 2-1 Barrow