Crewe Alexandra v Crawley Town preview: Reds look to end unwanted run at the Railwaymen

The Reds haven’t won in Crewe since December 2016, when a James Collins brace gave them a 2-0 victory.

Since then Crawley have lost six times to Crewe and won just once. This includes the 6-1 hammering the Red Devils received from the Railwaymen in 2019.

The travelling Crawley fans will certainly be hoping for a different outcome this time around, but Crewe have looked strong on at home so far this campaign.

Just one defeat from four on home soil for Crewe has seen them pick up seven points out of eleven at Gresty Road.

Crewe have gone for a very different approach under Alex Morris, compared to the style under David Artell.

The Railwaymen have the lowest average possession in the league and one of the lowest accurate passes per match in League Two, a complete contrast to the style employed by previous manager Artell.

We could see Crawley have a lot of the ball, while Crewe may intend on a high press in a bid to capitalie on any mistakes made.

If Crawley are to dominate the ball they’ll need to be accurate with their passing, and not make sloppy mistakes.

Courtney Baker-Richardson is the man threat Crawley needs to be wary of. He’s Crewe’s top scorer so far this season with five goals in nine games.

That’s just three shy of the tally he managed in 32 games last season, while he was at Newport County, playing with Crawley’s Dom Telford.

Callum Ainley’s four assists have also been key to Alex’s play, He likes to sit just behind Baker-Richardson, in an attacking midfielder role.

Ainley can unlock a game at any point when he’s playing well and Crawley will need to nullify his attacking threat if they want to get a clean sheet and some points from the game.