🗞️ Preview: Bolton Wanderers vs. Crewe Alexandra

Wanderers begin their Emirates FA Cup campaign on Saturday afternoon at the University of Stadium, with the visit of Sky Bet League One side Crewe Alexandra.

Pre-Match Quotes: 

Ian Evatt: ‘It’s a tough draw for both teams. We know a lot about them, we know they’re a very good football team in the division above currently. I think we can cause them problems and we showed that in the second half of the (Papa John’s) Trophy game. We have to take that confidence into this game, and make sure we are more consistent in the 90 minutes.’

David Artell: ‘It’s the best cup competition in the whole world, it’s as simple as that and we’re looking forward to it. We obviously know them and have played them twice already this season if you include the last pre-season friendly which is always a dress rehearsal for what happens next. We’ve got to reach the levels we have in the two previous games against Bolton, score some goals and win the game.’

 

How to watch:

Wanderers supporters can watch the clash with Crewe Alexandra by purchasing an iFollow BWFC video match pass for just £10 you don’t have to miss a kick.

An iFollow BWFC video match pass will ensure supporters do not miss a minute of the action, with the entire match streamed through any compatible laptop, computer, tablet or mobile device in the United Kingdom.

 

Team News:

Harry Brockbank is unlikely to recover in time to feature against Crewe after he was withdrawn with an apparent hamstring strain during the 1-1 draw with Mansfield Town.

Shaun Miller came off the bench on Tuesday night and could be pushing for a start against his former employers. Ian Evatt could also give some much-needed match minutes to Lloyd Isgrove who returned to the squad during the week.

Luke Murphy could once again feature against Wanderers and is probably likely to do so after being an unused substitute in Tuesday’s defeat to Gillingham. Billy Sass-Davies is unavailable after joining Altrincham on loan whilst in the Wanderers camp, Muhammadu Faal joined Barnet on loan and is therefore unavailable.

 

Bookies Odds:

Bolton win: 23/10

Draw: 23/10

Crewe win: 21/20

Correct as of 06/11/2020 (2.45pm) on skybet.com

 

Form:

Wanderers head into the weekend’s cup tie following an indifferent run of form in what will be considered a slow start to the 2020/21 campaign.

Antoni Sarcevic’s late equaliser earned Ian Evatt’s side a point in a 1-1 home draw against Mansfield Town on Tuesday evening, and that followed a 4-0 away defeat at Leyton Orient. Bolton’s last win came four days before the Orient defeat, with Nathan Delfouneso’s goal enough to secure a 1-0 win against Bradford City at the University of Bolton Stadium.

Crewe have lost their last three matches all 1-0, with defeats to Gillingham, Ipswich Town and Lincoln City. Their last victory came prior to that on the road against Doncaster Rovers with goals from Charlie Kirk and Harry Pickering earning them the three points on that afternoon.

 

Last time out:

The two sides met earlier in the season in the Papa John’s Group Stage, with Alexandra coming away from the University of Bolton Stadium with a 3-2 victory.

Mikael Mandron gave the visitors a first half lead before Ryan Delaney’s equaliser early in the second half. Owen Dale scored arguably the goal of the game to restore his side’s advantage before substitute Shaun Miller scored an equally impressive goal against his former club.

The game looked to be heading for a draw and subsequent bonus-point penalty shoot-out until George Taft fouled Dale inside the box and up stepped Mandron to put away the penalty with just a minute of the 90 remaining.

 

Match Officials:

Referee: Robert Lewis

Assistant Referees: Graeme Fyvie and Hristo Karaivanov

Fourth Official: Peter Gibbons

 

Read Time: 4 mins