Crewe Alexandra host Tranmere Rovers at Gresty Road this Saturday in a jam-packed League Two weekend. The hosts have had a strong start to the season and will aim to push further into the Play-off places whereas Tranmere need the points to drag themselves out of the relegation zone.
Crewe currently sit sixth in League Two after 12 games. With five wins, five draws and two losses, The Railwaymen have 20 points, leaving them just four points off top of the table and three points away from automatic promotion.
In their last five games, Crewe have two wins, a draw and two losses. Chris Long opened the scoring for Crewe in their clash against Colchester with a goal in the third minute and a penalty in the eighth minute. Colchester did manage to reply through Samson Tovide, but it wasn’t enough as Crewe took a 2 - 1 win. Next was a trip to Wrexham in a game with six goals and a sending off. Mickey Demetriou drew first blood in the 24th minute and though Paul Mullin equalised, Crewe had the lead going into halftime through a Long penalty in added time. However, despite Ryan Barnett being sent off in the first half, Mullin scored again in the early moments of the second half but Crewe took the lead again through Shilow Tracey. Steven Fletcher scored the equaliser in the 95th minute as the game finished 3 - 3.
Connor O’Riordan and Joe White were both on the scoresheet for Crewe as they beat Gillingham 2 - 0 with less possession and fewer shots on target. Courtney Baker-Richardson did score twice against Salford City but it wasn’t enough as Ryan Watson and Kevin Berkoe scored as well as a brace from Matt Smith gave Salford the 4 - 2 win.
Last time out for Crewe was against Wrexham again in the Football League Trophy. Jordan Tunnicliffe, Jordan Davies and Luke Young all scored in the 3 - 0 win for Wrexham with Luke Offord sent off for Crewe.
Tranmere, on the other hand, currently sit 22nd in League Two. In 12 games, The Rovers have three wins, one draw and eight losses, leaving them on ten points, one point away from safety but only three points away from the bottom of the table.
In their last five games, Tranmere have two wins, a draw and two losses. Joshua Stuart Hawkes scored twice in the 2 - 0 win over Accrington Stanley who had Jay Rich-Baghuelou sent off in the first half. However, the next weekend was not as successful. Connor Jennings opened the scoring in the fourth minute, but after that Armani Little scored for Wimbledon along with a hat-trick from Ali Al-Hamadi to give Wimbledon the 4 - 1 win with Jordan Turnbull sent off for Tranmere in the second half.
Tranmere was back to winning against Bradford, with Regan Hendry and Kieron Morris scoring in the 2 - 1 win for Tranmere. The draw came against Grimsby Town, with Morris and Jennings on the scoresheet for Tranmere in the 2 - 2 draw.
The most recent outing for Tranmere was against Leicester’s U21 team. Silko Amari Otieno Thomas scored the only goal in the 1 - 0 win for Leicester.
Crewe and Tranmere have a long history, with 140 meetings between the two clubs, the first meeting coming back in 1921. The Rovers have the better record in the fixture with 61 wins in comparison to The Railwaymen’s 46 wins. However, draws are also quite common in this fixture, with 33 draws, though one hasn’t happened since 2012.