Morecambe will be aiming to secure their first points of the 2024-25 League Two campaign when they head to Crewe Alexandra on Saturday afternoon.
The visitors are rock bottom of the table, having lost all four of their league matches this season, while Crewe are 18th, picking up four points from their opening four games of the new campaign.
Match preview
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Crewe finished sixth in League Two last season, which saw them qualify for the playoffs, but they were beaten 2-0 by Crawley Town in the final after navigating their way past Doncaster Rovers in the semi-finals.
The Railwaymen will again be looking to push for the promotion spots this term, but an underwhelming start to the campaign has seen them pick up just four points from four matches, which has left them in 18th position in the table.
Lee Bell's side lost 1-0 to Barrow and 5-0 at home to Chesterfield in the opening two league games of the season, but they picked up their first point against Swindon Town on August 24 before recording a 2-1 victory over Bromley last time out.
Crewe will enter this match off the back of a defeat, though, having been beaten 4-1 by Blackpool in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night.
The Alex recorded a 1-0 victory over Morecambe when the two sides last locked horns in April, but Morecambe won the reverse fixture 3-2 at Gresty Road one month before.
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Morecambe were relegated from League One at the end of the 2022-23 campaign, and they finished 15th in League Two last season, suffering 19 league defeats in the process.
The Shrimps would have been looking for a big improvement this season, but they have struggled in the early stages of the campaign, losing all four of their league matches to sit at the bottom of the table on zero points.
Derek Adams's side have actually lost all four of their league games this season 1-0, with Walsall, Gillingham, Doncaster Rovers and Newport County all beating them in close matches.
Morecambe will enter this match off the back of a win, though, beating Wigan Athletic 2-1 in the EFL Trophy on Tuesday night, which should hand them confidence ahead of their trip to Crewe.
The Shrimps have only won five of their previous 18 matches against Crewe in all competitions, but as mentioned, they recorded a 3-2 victory when the two teams locked horns in the corresponding fixture during the 2023-24 campaign.
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Team News
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Crewe head coach Bell is expected to name the same side that took to the field for the 2-1 success over Bromley in League Two last weekend.
There were a host of changes for the team's EFL Trophy fixture with Blackpool at Bloomfield Road, but it will be a more familiar XI for this contest.
Kane Hemmings, 33, is again set to lead the line for the hosts, while there should also be another start in the number 10 position for Shilow Tracey.
As for Morecambe, Lee Angol's goal against Wigan in the EFL Trophy could open the door for the experienced striker to feature in the starting XI this weekend.
Head coach Adams is expected to resist the temptation to make wholesale changes to the side that started against Newport County in the league last weekend despite a number of squad players impressing against Wigan.
However, Jordan Slew will be one of those to keep their spots, with the 31-year-old bidding to better his total of eight league goals from last season.
Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:
Marschall; Knight-Lebel, Demetriou, Williams; Billington, Holicek, Thomas, Sanders, Conway; Tracey; Hemmings
Morecambe possible starting lineup:
Moore; Hendrie, Williams, Stott, Tutonda; Songo'o, Jones; Edwards, Macadam, Slew; Angol
We say: Crewe Alexandra 2-1 Morecambe
Morecambe's confidence will have been lifted by their win over Wigan, but there is no getting away from the fact that it has been a tough start to the season. We are backing Morecambe to score their first league goal of the campaign on Saturday, but Crewe should have enough to emerge victorious on home soil.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Matt Law
