Crewe Alex v Salford City 25-26 Preview - Jekyll & Hyde

I did some digging into the Alex's record on Easter Monday as I was curious to see what it looked like. And over the last 10 or so years, it hasn't been great. Since the 2014-15 season, they are 2-1-7. Their last win on this date in front of fans was back in 2018-19 against Swindon. Their last home win was back in 2012-13 against Preston. So it's been a while. Anyway, what awaits them as they head into their final 5 games against a daunting set of teams? Here is my preview of the first of those teams, Salford at home:

Do the double

I'd also love nothing more than doing the double over that loathsome individual Karl Robinson. He's an arrogant gobs**** and his actual managerial record giving the sizeable backing he got at MK Dons and Oxford for years is quite poor. The same can be said at Salford. Yes, he's got them competing for a top 3 spot, but whoop-d-doo given they dropped £500k on Ryan Graydon in January, something I don't think the vast majority of L2 clubs could do.

There is nothing the Alex can do to stop Salford potentially earning promotion this season, but taking 6 points off Robinson and his merry band of mercenaries would be a nice crumb of comfort.

Jekyll & Hyde

Salford's away form is a baffling. They have gone and pulled off some excellent wins on the road. Notts County, Swindon, Barnet and Colchester have all been beaten on home soil by the Ammies. Their 10 away wins are the 2nd most in the division. However, their 9 losses are the most of any side in the top half aside from the Alex.

Coming up short against teams like Bristol Rovers, Accrington and Cheltenham, plus failing to score in 6 games, has been the reason they're not fighting for the title right now. If the Alex can catch them on a bad day, they have every chance of getting a win.

Jekyll & Hyde Part 2

It's not just Salford's away form which confuses me. The Alex's all round performances continue to confuse. Solid first half at Bristol Rovers, disastourous 2nd. Horrendous all game against Walsall. Poor overall against Cheltenham but scrapped out a point. Outstanding against Shrewsbury, pretty good all things considered against Oldham. But then beyond woeful against Accrington.

That's just their last 6 games! The whole season has been like that. Good results followed by bad results followed by good results. Round and round it goes. I doubt they find any consistency now with only 5 games to go, but if they could, that would be lovely, because I can't cope with their wild swings on a game by game basis.

Dramatic

What is it and the Alex's games with Salford being laced with memorable(and controversial) moments. 3 out of their 4 visits to Salford having a red card, a play on call despite the Alex celebrating a legit goal and a dodgy penalty back in August. Then at Gresty Road, Tommy Lowery's incredible goal in 2019, the 4-3 win in 2022-23 and the Matt Smith hat trick in 2023-24. I wonder what crazy incident will come out of this game?

Big game hunting

Whenever we go into a game expecting the Alex to win, they so often come up short. It's been one of the stories of their season. But, whenever they go into a game counted out and not universally expected to win, they find a way to surprise. Not always mind. But look at games like Bromley, Barnet, Swindon and Oldham since the turn of the year. Results when everyone predicted them to lose.

Well, they now have 5 straight games of that. Being the underdog. Being the one who isn't expected to win. The seem to have mentality issues when they are the favourite. That's not an excuse for what we saw against the likes of Fleetwood, Walsall and Accrington. But it's a reason.

That excuse/reason doesn't exist here. Yes, they might fall short due to a lack of quality in these coming weeks. But I'm really hoping that they use their underdog tag to good effect and spring a few surprises.

Ref Watch

Paul Howard

It's safe to say the Alex don't have a good record when Mr Howard rocks up to officiate one of their games. Their only win in a game he was in charge of was their 1-0 at Morecambe last season. The rest are lowlights. Defeats to Oxford(20-21), Morecambe(21-22), Grimsby(22-23) and MK Dons(23-24), plus a draw against Accrington(23-24) by an aggregate of 5-12 doesn't make for pretty reading.

2025-26 Record: 21 games(9 League One, 5 League Two, 2 National League, 2 FA Cup, 3 EFL Trophy), 66 yellows, 1 red

Last Game: Newport County 0-1 Bromley, EFL League Two, Tuesday 17th March 2026, 4 yellows

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

Injuries/Absences

Crewe Alex

Issues are starting to stack up once again. Lankester out, joining Thomas, Lunt and Tabiner on the sidelines. Is Holicek going to be ok after coming off on Friday? Would they consider putting Tracey into the squad for a morale boosting homecoming, even if it's without the intention of putting him on? It's got to be tempting at this point.

Salford

*Deep breath* The Ammies were missing Ossama Ashley, Michael Rose, Ben Woodburn, Kelly N'Mai, Jay Bird, Tom Edwards, Kadeem Harris, Josh Austerfield, Kallum Cesay and Zach Awe for their game on Friday. The likes of Woodburn, N'Mai, Harris and Austerfield will be big misses if they can't make it for this one.

Team

I'm going to hope Holicek is still available, but once again it's tricky to pick a workable midfield and front line, because their results with this current set up aren't ideal. I don't want to see March and Tezgel both start to be honest, nor do I want to see Agius in from the start either. But you might not have any choice.

I'm going with a diamond midfield to switch things up. Sanders stays at the base, then Holicek and Agius tuck inside and form a narrow trio with O'Reilly. March moves inside to support Tezgel and you go with a 4-1-2-1-2 formation. Or 4-4-2(diamond).

Score Prediction

Salford on a high after their dramatic win over Notts County, whilst the Alex are low after their horrendous defeat at Accrington. You couldn't find 2 clubs with more contrasting emotions going into this one. I genuinely do think this will be a defeat for the Alex, but a small part of me is hoping to reverse jinx them once again.

Crewe Alexandra 1-2 Salford City