Preview: Walsall vs. Crewe Alexandra - prediction, team news, lineups

Both sides played out to stalemates over the weekend, with the Saddlers drawing 1-1 against Newport County and Crewe fighting back to a 2-2 tie at Harrogate Town.

Match preview

Despite just going past the halfway point of their season, Walsall's 2022-23 is unlikely to end in a promotion chase if performances and results do not improve, neither are they expected to be sucked into a relegation tussle.

Michael Flynn's troops are admittedly eight points adrift of Salford City, having played two games fewer than the side occupying the final promotion spot in the competition, but a series of winless games threaten to see them fall further away as it stands.

A threat of relegation is implausible unless the Saddlers collapse significantly in the campaign's second half, owing to being 15 points clear of second-bottom Crawley Town.

That said, the middling West Midlands outfit's season is drifting as many stalemates leave them 14th in the standings before Tuesday's encounter with Crewe.

Flynn's men have drawn four successive fixtures in the competition, with February not being kind to the Saddlers. They are winless since the start of January, when a 2-1 success over Mansfield Town looked to start the year on a positive note.

At the time, Walsall had won six from eight games — losing just one match in that sequence — but the subsequent fixtures have seen them fail to live up to that promise.

Ostensibly, they would be ideal opponents for anyone. Unfortunately, Crewe are not pulling up trees either.

The Railwaymen may have picked up five points from an available nine recently, but a comprehensive look at their results shows that the side from Cheshire have won only twice in the calendar year.

Their last victory in the competition came against relegation-threatened Hartlepool United on Valentine's Day, a 2-0 success that ended a six-game winless run in League Two.

Preceding that 1-0 triumph over Tranmere Rovers on New Year's Day were three defeats on the trot, further highlighting the struggles encountered by a side that suffered relegation from League One in 2021-22.

The managerial change has barely helped, with Lee Bell swapping places with former first-team coach Alex Morris, who took the former's place as the club's assistant. That unusual move was made permanent in December, but two victories in over two months perhaps highlight the flaw in that decision.

That said, the goals have flowed for Bell's men in recent gameweeks. The Railwaymen have netted two goals each in their last three fixtures, having failed to score more than one goal in the competition since a 2-2 draw with Northampton Town in late August.

That offers a glimmer of hope before taking on draw kings Walsall — whose 11 stalemates outrank all but one side in League Two — before Tuesday's rescheduled game at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.

Both sides should have met in December, but the game was postponed due to a frozen pitch.

Walsall League Two form:

D

L

D

D

D

D

Walsall form (all competitions):

L

L

D

D

D

D

Crewe Alexandra League Two form:

D

L

L

D

W

D

Team News

Joe Riley made his long-awaited Walsall debut on Saturday — having hitherto missed the entire season through discomfort caused by two floating bone fragments rubbing against a tendon — and should get some minutes against the Railwaymen.

The club's trainer revealed recently that Liam Kinsella is nearing a return to action after missing the Saddlers' last five league games, and it remains to be seen if the midfielder makes his comeback against this week's visitors.

Despite intermittently utilising a 3-5-2, Flynn's go-to formation in 2022-23 has been the 3-4-1-2, so the expectation is to see the coach carry on with that approach on Tuesday.

On-loan defender Sean Robertson returned from suspension and played a part in Crewe's fightback from 2-0 down at Harrogate to draw 2-2, setting up Tariq Uwakwe's 89th-minute leveller, and could start at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.

The in-form Daniel Agyei has been involved in four goals in the Railwaymen's last three games, making the top-scoring attacker a favourite to play from the off as the visiting side hope to make it four games unbeaten.

Injured striker Courtney Baker-Richardson is back in training following a hamstring injury that has kept him out since October, but the forward is not likely to play this week.

Bell is expected to persist with the 3-5-2 that has brought the team positive results in the last three games, even if Robertson's return from suspension could tempt an alteration to a back four.

Walsall possible starting lineup:

Evans; Low, Daniels, Monthe; White, Comley, Hutchinson, Gordon; Knowles; Stevens, Matt

Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:

Richards; O'Riordan, McDonald, Offord; Robertson, Thomas, Finnigan, Ainley, Adebisi; Agyei, Nevitt

We say: Walsall 1-1 Crewe Alexandra

Walsall give little away at the Poundland Bescot Stadium, with 13 goals conceded the joint-third fewest of any home side in the league, demonstrating their toughness on their turf.

That said, Crewe's recent run of away draws gives them a chance of stealing a point on the road, with the hosts currently not particularly pulling up trees at their ground.

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