Harrogate Town v Crewe Alex 25-26 Preview - Monday Night Football

Let's be honest, the Alex dodged the Sky TV bullet last season. Sure, they had a few games moved to 12:30pm kick offs, but only one of their away games was moved from a Saturday and that was their closest trip to Port Vale. Well, this season they've not been so lucky, as their trip to Harrogate has been pushed back 2 days from it's Saturday slot to a Monday evening.

But, with it being at the start of an International break, it means it will the only game from the top 6 tiers of English football to be playing. So, I expect Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher to be covering the game in detail in the main Monday Sky Sports slot....yeah right. Here is my preview of the game:

Minefield

I hate this ground with a passion. Not because it's miles away from the town centre or because it's a weird mix of stands. No, because it's absolutely crippled the Alex's players 2 seasons in a row. In 23-24, they lost Zac Williams(6 weeks), Chris Long(2 months) and Joel Tabiner(4 months) to injuries in this game. Then last season in their 1-1 draw in February, they lost Long again(1 month), Mickey Demetriou(7 weeks) and Omar Bogle(1 month).

If they can avoid any injuries of any kind this time around, I'll be extremely grateful.

Build on It

Whether last weeks win against Notts County was sustainable or not, the fact is, the Alex did win and got 3 points. So now, they have the chance to play a team that aren't as good as Notts County and get another 3 points, which would show positive signs that they are capable of turning around their recent poor form.

A defeat however would only lead to more suggestions that last week was a one-off and it would make it 1 win in 7. Football is a results business and 1 win in 7 isn't going to cut it I'm afraid. They need wins and this is the perfect place to get one.

Goals

The issue facing the Alex at the moment is their attacking game remains a big problem, even in light of the win last week. The 2 goals in that game came from a corner and a penalty. Across their last 5 games, they are averaging 0.38 xG from open play and 5.19 xG in total, of which 2.37 is from penalties.

Away from home their goalscoring has become problematic. They have just 1 goal in their last 3 games and ok, they were playing 2 sides in Gillingham and Colchester who are tight defensively most of the time, but it's still a concern to see them struggle to find the net, especially as they come up against a Harrogate side who have conceded just 3 goals in their last 4 home games.

Streaky

Harrogate are doing typically Harrogate things this season in that they don't have a lot of goals, but are hard to break down. Last season, 10 of their 14 wins came via a 1 goal margin and this season it's the same, as 3 of their 4 wins have been by a 1-0 scoreline.

They are also a very boom or bust team. Last season they only won back to back games twice, but their longest winless run in 2025 was 5. This season, they started 2-2-0, but then fell to 4 straight defeats. Now they've won back to back games and will be targeting a 3rd. Can the Alex start them into one of their poor runs?

Monday on Sky

And finally, I'm interested to see how the Alex get on playing on a Monday night after 7 full days of rest. This is a break from their usual Saturday-Saturday routine and it could lead to a more energised performance. Or it could have the opposite effect and they could look confused and disjointed.

Yes, you could point to last seasons game at Port Vale which was also on a Monday night, but that game was 14 miles away. This game is 100 miles away. Preparation for this one will be a unique challenge and one I'm curious to see how the management handle it.

Ref Watch

Simon Mather

Mather's last Alex game was a memorable one, as he was in charge for the dramatic late comeback win against Carlisle last January. I'm not sure if I'd take another one of those at this point or not. As I noted for that game, he's a ref who keeps his cards in his pocket for the most part, with just 29 yellows shown across 9 games.

2025-26 Record: 9 games(5 League One, 3 League Cup, 1 National League)

Last Game: Carlisle United 3-1 Hartlepool United, 1st October 2025, National League Premier

Crewe Alex Record: 2-2-2, 10 yellows

Injuries/Absences

Harrogate Town

Lewis Cass, Zico Asare, George Thomson, Tom Curson and Liam Gibson could all be missing for Harrogate, although the team seem to have coped fine in their absences.

Crewe Alex

Jack Powell is a new entrant on to the injury list with a groin issue. But given how far down the pecking order he is currently, I don't see Bell being in any rush to throw him back into the squad. Apart from him, there should be nobody else aside from Tabiner and Tracey missing injury/illness wise and I include Omar Bogle in that. Which I never thought I'd say.

Team

I know, don't change a winning team and all that jazz. But yeah, no. For me both Agius and O'Reilly look jaded lately, so a game or two out of the team won't do them any harm. Bell has more options available to him with Lunt and Hutchinson now back from suspension. Do they both go back into the team?

For me, yes they do. Booth stays in goal, Golding stays at RCB, but Hutchinson comes in at LB and I'd still like to see what Mingi can do at RB over Billington, sorry. Lunt comes back into midfield alongside Sanders and Thomas.

Supporting March upfront would be Rankine on the right and Holicek on the left. Or vice versa, I don't mind. The bench once again will be tough to select 6 outfielders for, with Billington, O'Reilly, Agius, Lankester, Moult, Tezgel my choices.

Score Prediction

I'm torn. Will we see another limp performance a la Barrow. Will we see a good strong performance and win? Or will it be something in the middle. I'm on the fence, so that is where my prediction is going to sit. With a draw.

Harrogate Town 1-1 Crewe Alexandra