Preview: Crewe Alexandra v Fleetwood Town

26 December 2020

Fleetwood Town face Crewe Alexandra on Saturday 26 December at The Alexandra Stadium in Sky Bet League One, and we have all you need to know ahead of the 3pm kick-off in our match preview.

Fixture: Crewe Alexandra v Fleetwood Town

Competition: Sky Bet League One

Date: Saturday 26 December 2020

Kick-off: 15:00

Venue: The Alexandra Stadium, Gresty Road, Crewe, Cheshire, CW2 6EB

Match officials: Tom Nield (Referee), Marvyn Amphlett & Matthew Smith (Assistant Referees), Peter Wright (Fourth Official)

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FLEETWOOD TOWN

Fleetwood head to Gresty Road on the back of a three-game unbeaten streak in the league, after beating Swindon Town and getting consecutive draws against Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic.

In the latest game, Town conceded late on in their League One clash against Wigan as they shared the points in a 1-1 draw at Highbury Stadium.

The game was closely fought throughout, but it was Danny Andrew who broke the deadlock midway through the first half as he struck the ball perfectly from 25-yards, beating Jamie Jones. Wigan made a comeback inside the last ten minutes as Oliver Crankshaw latched onto a stray ball in the box, heading it home.

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CREWE ALEXANDRA

Crewe look towards the first fixture after Christmas with hope as they are also on a three-game unbeaten streak in the league, with three straight victories over Northampton Town, Plymouth Argyle and AFC Wimbledon.

Last time out, Crewe managed to grab a last-minute winner in their away fixture at Plough Lane, beating AFC Wimbledon 2-1 to the day.

Former-Fleetwood striker Mikael Mandron opened the scoring on the hour mark, but Wimbledon’s Ryan Longman looked to have shared the points out, scoring in the 90^th minute to make it all square. Oliver Finney was the one who grabbed the winner less than 90 seconds from time against The Wombles - securing the side’s third straight 2-1 win.

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ONE TO WATCH: MIKAEL MANDRON

The one to watch for Town’s clash with Crewe is the familiar face of forward Mikael Mandron. The 26-year-old has started off the season well for the Cheshire outfit, scoring eight goals in all competitions so far.

Mandron started his career in the North East, in the Sunderland Academy, where he managed to go out on loan three times, with the first being a spell at Highbury Stadium in 2014. The Frenchman found the net once in 13 games for Town, in the year the side secured their spot in League One through the play-offs.

In 2016, he left Sunderland to go to Eastleigh, and made an impact whilst there, even though his stay was only for six-months. Mandron became an ever-present and made 28 appearances in that short time, scoring 10 goals along the way.

Spells as Wigan, Colchester United and Gillingham would follow before the forward made the trip to Gresty Road in the Summer of 2020. Since the start of the season, Mandron has scored nearly a goal every other game for Crewe, making him the top goal scorer for the side in the current campaign.

WATCH TOWN ON iFOLLOW!

Supporters can now purchase video match passes for Fleetwood Town’s Sky Bet League One clash against Crewe Alexandra on Boxing Day.

With games still being played behind closed doors, the match pass is your best option to watch the Cod Army during the 2020/21 season.

Joey Barton’s side are set to travel to Cheshire on Boxing Day to face Crewe Alexandra in a festive Sky Bet League One encounter - and you can watch the game for just £10!

If you'd like to purchase your match pass, click HERE.

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Match Previews

Match Reports

Report: Burns' opener cancelled out as the points are shared in Crewe

26 December 2020

Fleetwood Town ended up having to share the points with Crewe Alexandra at The Alexandra Stadium on Boxing Day after their 1-1 draw.

Town took the lead in the game as Wes Burns managed to power through two Crewe defenders and poke the ball under the goalkeeper, but it was a controversial goal by Mikael Mandron which levelled it up on the hour mark in the tightly contested game.

Fleetwood had the first chance of the game and it took 20 minutes to come. Josh Morris found Burns at the back post whose looping across the face of goal bounced off the woodwork and was cleared by the Alex defence.

Moments later, Burns returned the favour when his inviting ball into the box found the outstretched boot of Morris, but his first-time effort went over the bar.

Crewe then went on the attack as Charlie Kirk cut inside and struck the ball from 18 yards towards goal which had to be dealt with by Charlie Mulgrew on the line.

The Cod Army had a penalty shout when after a neat piece of skill to skip through two defenders, Camps appeared to have been tripped in the box, but the referee waved away penalty claims.

Morris was at the heart of the action once again. His freekick was flicked on by Paddy Madden and met by Mulgrew at the back post, who poked the ball home. However, the assistant’s flag was raised for offside.

Callum Camps came close to giving Fleetwood the lead before the break when his driven freekick struck the chest of Crewe goalkeeper Will Jaaskelainen before bouncing back out into play, but Fleetwood weren’t able to take advantage of the loose ball.

Just minutes into the second half, Burns latched onto a ball over the top, squeezing between two defenders and poking the ball under Jaaskelainen to break the deadlock.

Josh Morris’ teasing corner caused confusion in the box amongst the Crewe defence. Madden saw his shot blocked, as did Burns before the ball was cleared.

On the hour mark, Mandron found the equaliser for the home side amidst protests from the Fleetwood backline as the forward seemed to be in an offside position and looked to have used his hand. The referee looked and decided the goal would stand.

Fleetwood almost regained their one-goal advantage when Danny Andrew’s curling freekick had Jaaskelainen scrambling across his goal and almost nestled in the back of the net.

Crewe XI: Jaaskelainen (GK), Pickering (C), Wintle, Kirk, Mandron, Finney (Lowery 78), Johnson, Offord, Dale (Powell 78), Murphy, Beckles.

Subs not used: Richards (GK), Porter, Zanzala, Adebisi.

Town XI: Leutwiler (GK), Edwards, Andrew, Connolly (C), Whelan, Burns (Coutts 72), Camps, J.Morris (Duffy 72), Mulgrew, Rossiter, Madden (Saunders 78).

Subs not used: Cairns (GK), McKay, Hill, Rydel.