Tranmere Rovers v Crewe Alex 25-26 Preview - A Goal?!

Crewe Alex meeting Tranmere Rovers will always be a funny fixture given both sides utter inability to win at the other teams ground. It's incredible that the Alex's last league win at Prenton Park was in the 1999-2000 season and Tranmere's last league win at Gresty Road was in October of that same season. Will that trend continue or could the Alex maybe actually turn up in this fixture and win. Wouldn't that be a nice change? Here is my preview of their visit to the Wirral:

A goal

Forget a win or even a draw, I'd almost settle for seeing them score a goal at this point. They have netted just 3 times in their last 10 league visits to this ground and their last goal was on Boxing Day in 2012.

You could have conceived a child on that date, the child could have been born and would now be in high school in the almost 13 years since that goal. The Alex's record here is miserable, which is appalling given fans always travel in big numbers. Those fans are likely to do so again here, for some unknown reason. I am on my knees begging for something to cheer about this time.

Finding Form

A few weeks ago, I started to draft a section about how Tranmere were struggling and finding it hard to pick up wins. But guess what? They've found form just before they play the Alex. Wonderful.

Whilst they weren't too impressive on Tuesday at Barrow, they still comfortably won 3-0 thanks to a free kick and 2 penalties. They have now lost just one of their last 8 games and have 4 wins from those games. A win here takes them above the Alex.

What's more impressive is they actually seem to have some firepower for a change. They are the joint 2nd highest scorers in the division with 33 scored so far. In Omari Patrick, Charlie Whitaker(6 goals in his last 5 league games), Joe Ironside, Kristian Dennis and Connor Jennings, they have a strong front line with goals from multiple sources.

Home Issues

All the above being said, they seem to have found it hard to win at Prenton Park this season. They don't lose often, but they have only 2 home wins and they were against Cheltenham(19th) and Shrewsbury(20th). They have scored fewer goals than on the road, but their biggest issue letting leads slip, which sounds familiar.

They were ahead at home against Gillingham, Notts County, Newport and MK Dons, but failed to win any of them. They almost did the same against Cheltenham, throwing away a 2 goal lead but eventually sneaking in a late winner. There is a fragility to them at Prenton Park, as evidenced by their 1-5-2 record in their last 8. The Alex need to pounce on that if they can.

A Struggle

I'm going to keep saying it until it changes, but the Alex's away form is getting worse by the week. In their last 7 trips, they are 1-2-4 with just 4 goals scored. The only mitigating circumstances I will say is that they've visited some tough grounds so far and their last 3 were against MK Dons(3rd), Oldham and Cambridge, the 2 teams with the best home defensive records in the league.

But whilst there have been some stinking performances in their last 7(see Colchester, Barrow, MK and Cambridge), they should have more points on the board. They should have beaten Gillingham and Oldham, but got 1 point combined. They led against Colchester and Cambridge, but came away with 1 point combined. If they can combine their general level of performance with their ability to get their noses in front, better results are sure to follow.

Fast Turnaround

Another issue for the Alex is the short turnaround between their last game and this one. A normal Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday will see them get rest of roughly 74 hours and 89 hours of rest between games respectively, but as they played on Wednesday, they will have had just 65 hours of downtime between the end of the Newport game and this one, which isn't a lot. Tranmere on the other hand will have had 24 hours more rest and an extra day of preparation. That is likely to give them an advantage and I'm curious to see how Lee Bell overcomes it, especially with a squad that is getting smaller and smaller in terms of player availability by the game.

Pressure Off

In a bid to end on something of a positive note, I will say this. Yes, there will be a sizeable number of away fans in the stadium for this game, which brings a level of pressure in itself. But, away from the confines of Gresty Road in a game almost nobody expects them to get a result in, maybe this is where they can shine.

Because whilst we are back to having conversations about the managers future, a win here, however unlikely it seems, suddenly changes things. 4 points from Newport and Tranmere is a good return is anyone's book. Like I said, winning here feels almost an impossibility. But wouldn't it be the most Lee Bell/Crewe Alex thing ever to pull off the impossible and bring back 3 points?

Ref Watch

Ross Joyce

Joyce is a vastly experienced ref who should be familiar to all Alex fans given he's been in the EFL for well over a decade now. He's done 16 of their matches over the years, but none since 2023-24. He officiated Crewe v Tranmere in that season, where he sent off 2 Rovers players. Hopefully he feels like being similarly generous in this game.

2025-26 Record: 17 games(8 League One, 4 League Two, 2 FA Cup, 1 League Cup, 1 Vertu Trophy, 1 National League), 47 yellows

Last Game: Port Vale 1-0 Bristol Rovers, FA Cup, 6th December 2025, 5 yellows

Crewe Alex Record: 8-3-5, 23 yellows

Injuries/Absences

Tranmere Rovers

Rovers could be without goalkeeper Luke McGee, defenders Jason Lowe and Lee O'Connor, midfielder Sam Finley and winger Omari Patrick. Patrick would be a big loss given he's their most productive attacker.

Crewe Alex

Big deep breath for this one: The Alex could/will be without Joel Tabiner, Shilow Tracey, Jack Lankester, Mickey Demetriou, Matus Holicek, Omar Bogle, James Golding, Louis Moult, Jack Powell, Olly Armstrong and now Conor Thomas and Jay Mingi. If they get nobody back in time for this game, I don't even know how you begin to pick a starting XI, let alone a full bench.

Team

Erm. Yeah. If Thomas and Mingi don't make it after both seemed to be carrying issues from Wednesday, then there are very few options Bell has at this stage if nobody else can make it back. Is he really going to throw Stan Dancey in at RB in an away game against a fired up Tranmere team? No chance.

People will be furious, but I honestly think Finney will have to start at RB. Either him or Hutchinson at this stage. Connolly and Billington will have to continue at CB. In midfield, at least Lunt can drop in and either March or Rankine can start in one of the attacking spots. As he scored on Wednesday, I'd imagine March will start in a mixed number 10/striker role behind/alongside Tezgel, with Agius and O'Reilly continuing in their wing roles.

The bench, assuming no returnees, might not even have 7 names on it. Waller, Croker, Rankine, Thibaut, Dancey and who else?

Score Prediction

For the 3rd away game in a row, I'm going to say the same thing, which is I'd take a draw. It would be so sweet end their long hoodoo on this ground and come back with the 3 points, but a good performance and a 0-0/1-1 would do me fine. However, given their recent away struggles, less rest/preparation and Tranmere finding a bit of form, I'm going for a home win.

Tranmere Rovers 2-0 Crewe Alexandra