Fleetwood Town v Crewe Alex 25-26 Preview - I do like to be beside the Seaside

I wonder if any Crewe fan saw the fixtures being released and then suddenly proposed a trip to Blackpool to the family around the same time? There had to have been a few right? I do think this has worked out nicely for any Alex fans who were in fact planning a short trip away in the final few weeks of the summer holidays. A nice day in Blackpool in August followed by a visit to Fleetwood. What more could you ask for? Here is my preview of their first midweek league game of the season.

Warmer Months

All joking aside, the Alex have been lucky with this fixture, as it once again falls in one of the warmer months of the season. This isn't the first time it's happened either. Of their 5 previous league visits to Fleetwood, 3 have fallen in August, April and May. And so it is that they get another August visit. Sure, I bet the players don't care all that much, but as I mentioned above, it's nice for the fans at least.

Good Omens?

The last time the Alex won their opening 2 away games of the season, it was back in 2019-20. They beat a side on the outskirts of Greater Manchester in the first game(Oldham) and then followed that up with a midweek away win in game 4(Crawley). They will have far less distance to travel for this, but if they can grab another win here, then maybe, just maybe, a season akin to 19-20 might be on the cards.

A Wild Team

One thing is for sure, it hasn't taken Pete Wild long to put his stamp on this Fleetwood team tactically. Last season under Charlie Adam, they averaged just 47.8% possession, but once Wild took over, it dropped to just 45.9%. Through 3 games this season, they are managing just 39.8% possession, which yes is in part to them leading for big chunks of games 1 and 2, but even against Bromley, the side with the lowest possession in L2, they only managed 48%

They are averaging just 154.7 successful passes per game, which is 22nd in the division. They are creating chances, ranking 5th in xG, 5th in shots on target per game, but are giving up too many chances, having the 8th worst xG conceded. They do seem very similar to his Barrow team at this point.

What To Do?

As much as I want to say "same again" team and formation wise, I can understand why Bell might be contemplating changes for this one. A lot of early season talk has been about the thin nature of the squad and how he'll need to rotate and mix things up at times to keep players fresh.

Well, as much as it pains me to say it, is this the first time it makes sense to do it by making a few changes, both to personnel and the formation? I can see the arguments for both keeping it the same and mixing it up. Can the likes of Demetriou and Thomas play 3 games in 8 days? Is it worth throwing in Tezgel for a start? I do think he has some interesting decisions to make.

Only Tuesday

A lot of talk last Tuesday was about the Alex's ability to cope with with multiple competitions at the same time. Well, it's worth remembering that this game is their only currently scheduled Tuesday game between now and early December, when they host Newport. In fact, it's their only scheduled Tuesday away league game until they go to Bromley in late January.

Whilst I'm sure certain events such as international call ups and the weather might see more games moved to midweek slots, at the moment, once this game has been played, the first team have a pretty light schedule between now and December(ignoring the Vertu Trophy of course).

Ref Watch

Thomas Kirk

Hmm. He'll always be remembered for the antics at Salford in 23-24, but let's also be fair and remember he gave the Alex a fair shake last season at Port Vale, where he correctly sent off Rekeem Harper. He was fine in that game to be fair, so hopefully he's the same again in this one.

2025-26 Record: 2 games(1 Championship, 1 EFL League Cup), 9 yellows

Last Game: Swansea City 1-0 Sheff Utd, EFL Championship, 16th August 2025, 4 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 0-1-1, 3 yellows

Injuries/Absences

Fleetwood Town

The Cod were without Elliott Bonds from their squad on Saturday and he'll be a miss if he's out. Also absent on Saturday were Harrison Holgate, Owen Devonport and Ronan Coughlan with the former 2 playing in the league cup against Barnsley but not making the trip to Bromley. So whilst they are down a few players, it does show the strength of their squad.

Crewe Alex

It's rare we can say this, but it looks to be pretty similar again doesn't it? The only remaining short term doubt is Louis Moult and his tight groin. Do they risk him on either this or Saturday's trip? I'm suspecting no.

Team

I know what I said above about the possibility of making changes. So I'll ensure I'm not accused of being a hypocrite by saying that should Bell make changes and it not work, I won't berate him. I'll understand why he did it and if it doesn't work, hope he learns the lessons from it. A possible option could be going 3-5-2/3-4-1-2, starting Tezgel alongside March, dropping Agius or moving him into the number 10 role, dropping one of Lunt, Sanders or Thomas and bringing in James Golding.

That being said, I'm keeping it simple and going with the same again and hoping that the Alex can find the little gaps in the Fleetwood team to exploit, especially out wide where I think both wing backs Shaun Rooney and Denver Hume can be suspect defensively.

Score Prediction

3 wins to open the season means you can potentially afford to go through both these next 2 games, come away with 2 draws and feel very satisfied with your efforts. I'm not saying I want them to go for a point in this one, as I feel that Fleetwood, like most L2 teams, are very beatable. But if they were to emerge with only a point, I'd take it.

Fleetwood Town 1-1 Crewe Alex