Crewe Alex v Chesterfield 24/25 Preview - Must Not Lose?

The Alex are back at Gresty Road hoping to get some momentum into their season after a mixed start in their opening 2 games, with a dull performance at Barrow followed up by a heartening display at Rotherham. They face a newly promoted Chesterfield side who themselves are after their first win of the league season. Can the Alex get their season up and running, or will their early struggles and hangover from last season persist? Here is my preview of the game:

A result

Is it too early for a must not lose game? Probably, yes. But then after 2 defeats to open the season, regardless of how and where they occured, you really don't want to be losing a 3rd, especially as you bid to end last seasons hangover. If they lost this game, it won't be season over or any cause for concern(unless they get battered of course), but they could do with even a scrappy draw to get on the board and get their season moving in the right direction.

Improvement

The Alex's last 4 home games of last season finished with 4 defeats, 0 goals scored and 11 conceded. They are 6-3-7 in their last 16 league games at Gresty Road. Their home form became an issue as last season progressed, but it was masked by their decent away record.

If they want to mount another promotion run, then their home record has to improve and it ideally will start straight away. That'll be hard as they open against a Spirerites side who will come into this game with no fear.

Promotion Contender

The Alex couldn't have asked for a tougher start to their home fixtures. Last season they opened up against a promotion favourite in Mansfield and they scrapped out a 2-2 draw and this season, they face another fancied team in the newly promoted Spirerites. The away side are coming into this game full of confidence and quality, looking for an early 3 points to ensure they have a good start after drawing their opening game against Swindon and giving Derby a run for their money on Tuesday.

With players like Naylor, Dunkley, Grigg, Dobra and of course, old Alex boy Ryan Colclough, they have some serious quality that could hurt the Alex in many different ways.

Cracks

At the end of the day though, they are a L2 side just like the Alex. And there are 2 things the Alex will likely want to tap into to help them win this game.

The first is Chesterfield's shaky defensive record from last season. They conceded 65 goals last season, which was the most of any of the top 7 side. They are very attack minded and that could lead to them getting in trouble defensively at times.

The 2nd issue is how they lost momentum towards the back end of last season after they had the title all but bagged. Ok, that was probably why they did fall off, but they went 5-3-7 in their final 15 games, conceding 29 times in that span. That's a fair chunk of the season. They also went 1-1-6 in their final 8 away games, conceding 19.

If we worry about the Alex's loss of momentum from last season, they are facing a side that went through the same thing, especially given they are 0-1-1 through their first 2 games.

Formation

Let's just reduce it down the very basic conversation. Which formation looked better, the 4-2-3-1 at Barrow or the 3-5-2 at Rotherham? It's clearly the latter, so it's something they need to think about using in this game. That might not be fully possible given Tuesday saw them use 2 wingers in Tracey and Lankester in the 2 striker roles. But some variance on that system should be what they look at doing going forward to see how they look, as I don't think reverting back to the 4-2-3-1 makes much sense.

Ref Watch

Scott Tallis

The Alex get a ref who is only in his 2nd year of EFL refereeing. He moved into the league last season and issued 130 yellows in 31 games, giving him an average of 4.2 per game, which is a little above average, but not terrible. He's only managed 1 Crewe game, that being their 2-1 home win over Newcastle in the EFL Trophy.

2024/25 Record: 1 game(1 EFL League Cup), 2 yellows

Last Game: Lincoln City 1-2 Harrogate Town, EFL League Cup, 13th August 2024, 2 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 1-0-0, 1 yellow

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

Lee Bell gave a rare positive update on the Alex's injuries. I won't keep mentioning Powell and Robinson, as we know they are further away from returns. But of the rest, Bell said that Finney and Long would be available for selection, although in the formers case, I don't think he'll make the squad until he's played a few U21s games to build up his fitness.

It also sounds like Booth is potentially in contention, although I think he might miss out also. But, aside from Omar Bogle who is "a couple of weeks away", they look to have a relatively empty treatment room.

Chesterfield

Chesterfield might be having something of an injury crisis heading into this game. They are already down Ash Palmer(knee), Paddy Madden(calf), Ryheem Sheckleford(hamstring) and Liam Mandeville(ankle) with long term issues. And it seems they are nursing other concerns with Ryan Colclough(calf), Devan Tanton(quad) and Tom Naylor(ankle) all nursing issues, although those 3 could be fit to play.

They'll definitely have captain Jamie Grimes back after he played 22 minutes at Derby on Tuesday, but whether he's fit to start remains to be seen. They could be without a few of their better players, which might play into the Alex's hands, although 2 new loan signings brought in yesterday might help them with depth.

Team

3 at the back is the starting point for me. Conway and Billington start at wing back, even if I admit that Billo at right wing back isn't ideal. Then it's about finding a system that suits them further forward. I asked for it before Tuesdays game and I'll ask for it again: I want to see a 3-4-2-1. I'd have Tabiner in midfield alongside Sanders, as I think Thomas and Sanders shouldn't start together given the lack of creativity between them.

Then in behind Hemmings upfront, Holicek obviously starts after his goal on Tuesday and for me, after his brighter display in that game, Lankester also starts. I know this system isn't perfect, but I feel every one of those players deserves to start. The only omission which would feel harsh is Knight-Lebel.

The bench would look very healthy though, with Lenarcik, Knight-Lebel, Thomas, Breckin, Long, Tracey and one of Cooney, Lunt or Roberts as the 7th man.

Score Prediction

Tough one. Chesterfield have some very dangerous players and could rip the Alex to shreds if they are on their game. The Alex still not quite clicking into gear and their home struggles also make me nervous. I'm going to let my pessimism take charge here until I see firm evidence otherwise and say Chesterfield are going to take this by a narrow scoreline.

Crewe Alex 1-2 Chesterfield