Crewe Alex v Harrogate Town 25-26 Preview - Familiar Feeling

Hmm, why do I get the feeling we've been here before? A struggling team down at the bottom of L2 comes to Gresty Road in desperate need of a result. And the Alex oblige by giving them a morale boosting result? Oh wait, because it only happened last month against Newport and Bristol Rovers. Well, let me say this loud and clear. It can not happen again. Not for a third time. Not with some tough home games coming up from the end of January onwards. Here is my preview of Harrogate's visit to South Cheshire:

Unbeaten

I say this knowing full well it risks jinxing the opposite into reality, but the Alex through 8 meetings have not lost to Harrogate. At home, they haven't even conceded a goal, going 2-1-0 in the league and winning their only cup meeting, all by a 7-0 aggregate. Given this might very well be the last time these 2 teams play each other in a competitive fixture for a long time, I really hope the Alex can keep their impressive run going and pick up another win here.

Take Advantage

At the time of posting, the Alex are one of only 6 teams in league action this weekend, with all fixtures called off due clubs either being in FA Cup action or due to the adverse weather in the last week. So this is the perfect chance to take advantage of that fact by putting up 3 points. If they can, they will end the day, regardless of other results, 2 points off the play-offs.

I'm a firm believer that points in the bag is more important than games in hand. If the Alex can do that, they will at least put pressure on the teams above them.

Slightly Better

Harrogate are a bad side. I don't need to lay out the numbers to make that apparent. But what is interesting is that they are slightly better on the road than they are at home. They've scored more and conceded fewer than at home. They've taken results from Cambridge, Gillingham, Notts County and Barnet. In their last 2 away defeats at Salford and Accrington, they only lost 1-0 via a penalty in both. Before that, they managed 3 straight draws.

They are a scrappy team who are desperate for results and who will come with a game plan, will work hard and can spring a surprise if they catch an opposition team unawares. I'm sure Bell knows this, but if there is a message he should have spent all week drilling into his players it's "Don't underestimate them"!

Fell Apart

It was at this point last season where the Alex's home form fell off a cliff. They were 7-4-1 at Gresty Road after 12 games, but they lost 1-0 to a struggling Accrington and they never recovered. They went 2-2-7 in their final 11 games and it was that run which was one of the major reasons why they fell short of the play-offs.

Well, they are 6-3-3 after 12 games this season, 4 points worse off than at this stage last season, so they have some catching up to do. They have some tough games at Gresty Road in the 2nd half of the season, including 5 of the current top 10. They are running out of 'favourable' home games, so they have to make this one count, especially after the 2 dropped results against Newport and Bristol Rovers last month.

A Clean Sheet

Is it too much to ask for a clean sheet as well? They have managed 1 in the last 21 games and whilst plenty of their displays have been reasonable enough at the back, they've struggled to string together a 90 minute defensive performance. As an example of what I mean, they have conceded just 1 goal a division leading 13 times, but have only conceded 2 or more 8 times. Only 6 teams have conceded 2 or more in a fewer amount of games.

It shows that they don't have many complete defensive meltdowns compared to the other teams in the league, but they do have at least 1 poor moment in them most games. They could really do with a clean sheet and against a side who have scored 3 goals in their last 11 games, there really is no better opponent to do it against.

Ref Watch

Charles Breakspear

The vastly experienced ref is back for another season, this being his 13th in the EFL. His last Alex game was their dismal 1-0 defeat at home to MK Dons last season, but this season he's only done 6 games from mid-November onwards, which is unusual.

2025-26 Record: 6 games(2 League One, 1 League Two, 1 National League, 1 National League South, 1 FA Cup), 20 yellows, 1 red

Last Game: Lincoln City 5-2 Peterborough United, EFL League One, 4th January 2026, 5 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 4-5-3, 18 yellows, 1 red

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

The Alex will be without Emre Tezgel for "a couple of months" and Jack Lankester remains "a few weeks away", although that's the same diagnosis we've heard for the last month, so who knows how far off he honestly is at this point. Aside from them and the usual duo of Shilow Tracey and Joel Tabiner, they seem in good condition elsewhere.

Harrogate Town

Joint top scorer Stephen Duke-McKenna is out with a hamstring injury. Jacob Slater serves the 2nd of a 3 match ban, whilst Tom Bradbury, Levi Sutton, Tom Hill, Ellis Taylor and Liam Gibson have all been absent over the festive period.

The status of keeper James Belshaw is also questionable as he is apparently close to a move to Notts County

Team

Whilst the Barnet postponement might have worked against them in some ways, it will have allowed them to get the likes of Demetriou, Thomas and March more recovery time so that they are in better condition for this game. And it should allow them to name the same XI as the Cheltenham game.

On the bench they'll have a stronger set of options than they've had in a good month. New signing Alfie Pond will come in for Phil Croker I'd imagine, but picking the other 5 outfielders from Mingi, Rankine, Powell, Bogle, Finney, Moult and Thomas might be slightly more tricky.

Score Prediction

They've failed to beat most of the teams they were expected to beat at home. See Barnet, Bromley, Newport and Bristol Rovers. Is this going to fall into the same trap? I really hope not, because any side that wants to make the top 7 needs to be winning this game. It's that simple. I'm going to stay positive and say they will avoid an upset and come away with 3 points and a clean sheet.

Crewe Alexandra 2-0 Harrogate Town