Crewe Alex v Cambridge United 25-26 Preview - Party?

For the 2nd season in a row, the Alex end the season at home, against a side that has spent a large chunk of the season in the top 3 and is looking to seal automatic promotion on their pitch. However, the difference here is that unlike Walsall 12 months ago, who were hoping for Bradford to not win, Cambridge have promotion in their own hands. A win here and they are up, it's that simple. Will they get it or can the Alex spoil their promotion party? Here is my preview of the Alex's final game of the 25-26 season:

Defensive Wall

Cambridge's defensive stats are something to behold. 33 goals conceded. 19 clean sheets. The next closest teams to them are MK and Oldham, who have both conceded 44. That's a staggering 11 goal gap. Their defensive stats are incredibly impressive and what's more, they are fully warranted. They have given up the least xG against and their goalkeepers have made the fewest saves in L2 at just 1.7 per game. If the Alex find a way to breach them in this game, they'll have done well.

Weaknesses

There are 3 chinks in the Cambridge armour that I think the Alex can exploit. The first is their so-so away form. They are 1st in the home results table, but 10th in the away table. They have just 7 wins on the road this season, the same as the Alex. Their 23 goals scored are the 5th fewest, with even teams like Barrow, Cheltenham and Tranmere scoring more. They've been good as grinding out draws, but this is a game they'll know they surely have to win, so as to not rely on favourable results in the Salford and Notts County games. How will they respond to that pressure?

Second, their goalkeeper Jake Eastwood has shown some shaky tendencies in recent weeks. Go and watch the goals they conceded against Swindon, Cheltenham and the 2nd against Grimsby and you'll see player that, if you can actually test him, might make some mistakes.

And third is their lack of a killer instinct. Go back through the season and you'll see some results they dropped because they failed to kill teams off. Goals let in in the final 10 minutes of games against Grimsby(twice), Chesterfield, Gillingham, MK, Swindon, Cheltenham have seen them drop 11 points. Even a couple of those games flipped to wins sees them not only up right now, but firmly alongside MK competing for the title.

Final Day Record

Switching to the Alex, as you can imagine, I went back and looked at how they have gotten on on the final day in the last 25 years and you wouldn't be surprised to know, it's been a mixed bag. In their last 24 games going back to 2000, they are 9-6-9 on the final day. At home, they are 8-2-5, with last seasons defeat against Walsall their first defeat on the final day when they play at home since 2015 with Bradford.

However, on the flip side, the last time they enjoyed a win on the final day in front of fans was way back in 2018, with 2 goals from Shaun Miller beating Cheltenham. So perhaps another one is long overdue?

On a high

A win here wouldn't do much for the Alex. The most it would do would be to confirm them finishing 10th. But it would go some way towards generating some optimism and excitement for next season. As it stands, the Alex's season is ending on a whimper, yet again. They are 3-1-6 in their last 10 and the grumbles towards the manager are getting louder, as you'd expect. I know they are banged up and limping towards the finish line, but they still have a squad which can put in a reasonable performance and maybe even snatch 3 points. Finishing on something of a high would be a nice way to head into the summer at least.

Ref Watch

Neil Hair

I wonder if they've ever had a ref who did both their opening and final games in a season? Yes, Mr Hair was the one who gave Salford their incredibly dubious penalty way back in August. Some Cambridge fans have discovered that he is seemingly a Peterborough fan. I've got news for their fans. If he does give a dodgy penalty against them, it's because he's a poor ref. Nothing more. Let's see how he does here.

2025-26 Record: 27 games(11 League One, 9 League Two, 4 National League, 2 FA Cup, 1 League Cup), 89 yellows, 3 reds, 8 penalties

Last Game: Stevenage 2-2 Lincoln City, League One, Saturday 18th April 2026, 4 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 5-1-4, 17 yellows

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

Are we not getting any injury updates this week? If not, we'll be left to guess at the status of a few Crewe players. At the very least, we know they'll be without Max Sanders, Jack Lankester, Joel Tabiner, James Connolly, Owen Lunt and Calum Agius. Will anyone else be missing I wonder?

Cambridge

Shayne Lavery will be desperately trying to return from a hamstring injury, but he's likely to only make the bench. Kylian Kouassi and Shane McLoughlin look set to miss out, but aside from those 2, it looks like a relatively healthy squad for them.

Team

Hmm, trying to pick a team from whoever is healthy is a tough one. In the end, I went with a team that is a mix of likely to be back here next season and those who will have to play due to the lack of good options to pick ahead of them.

In the end, I went with a mostly heavy focus on those players that either will be or likely will be here next season. Billo moves into RCB alongside Demetriou. Dancey starts at RB. Moore starts alongside Powell in midfield, because starting Thomas is giant waste of time even if he is fit. March goes again on the left wing with Holicek in the number 10, although those 2 can switch around and make it a 4-4-2 if needed. O'Reilly and Tezgel, the player and young player of the season award winners, get the chance to finish the season on a high.

Score Prediction

As much as I'd like to see the Alex go out on a high and pick up a win or even a draw, I'm not feeling too confident against a massively fired up Cambridge team who know that they need a win to get promoted. I think they are going to grab a goal, sit on it and come away with a nervy but ultimately successful result to get themselves into L1.

Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Cambridge United