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The Blues travel to south Cheshire to take on the Railwaymen on Saturday afternoon, needing to turn around their fortunes at the ground formerly known as Gresty Road. The Cumbrians will be hoping to improve upon a record which has seen them lose 22 and win only a paltry seven of the 38 games between the two on Alex' turf, nine of the matches ending in draws.
United were thrashed 5-1 at Crewe in League One last season in front of 5,989 spectators. Karl Hawley actually put Carlisle 1-0 up before a brace from Luke Varney and a hat-trick from Ryan Lowe ensured that the home side took all three points with ease. Only four players from that United matchday sixteen in September 2006 look likely to be involved tomorrow, those being Keiren Westwood, Danny Livesey, Peter Murphy and Paul Thirlwell.
The Blues last won away to Crewe in the league in the 1993-94 season, Carlisle being victorious by the odd goal in five. United were 2-1 up at the break and would go on to win 3-2 against an Alex' side that were automatically promoted, in third place, at the end of the campaign. A Rod Thomas brace and a goal from Jamie Robinson securing all three points for Carlisle, with lower league hotshot Tony Naylor scoring both goals for Crewe in front of a Gresty Road crowd of just 3,679 spectators.
The biggest win at home for the Railwaymen against the Blues was a 7-1 hammering in Division Three North back in 1938-39, Carlisle's scorer that January afternoon being Alex Hamill from the penalty spot. United's best margin of victory in a league game at Crewe was a 5-3 victory in the same division in 1930-31, the Carlisle goals that day, coming, unsurprisingly in that era, from a Jimmy McConnell hat-trick and single strikes by Sam Armes and William Watson.
For a detailed analysis of the head-to-head between the two sides, click here
| Recent encounters between the teams: | |||||
| 2007/2008 | Sat 19 Jan | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Crewe | LGE1 |
| 2006/2007 | Sat 20 Jan | Carlisle | 0 - 2 | Crewe | LGE1 |
| 2006/2007 | Sat 30 Sep | Crewe | 5 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 1995/1996 | Tue 02 Apr | Carlisle | 1 - 0 | Crewe | LGE1 |
| 1995/1996 | Sat 14 Oct | Crewe | 2 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 1994/1995 | Tue 14 Feb | Crewe | 0 - 1 | Carlisle | ASSM |
| 1993/1994 | Mon 04 Apr | Crewe | 2 - 3 | Carlisle | LGE2 |
Recent respective form guides
Crewe have only collected one win and three draws from their last six home games played. While The Railwaymen have scored seven goals, a worringly large 11 have been leaked at the other end.
The away form of Carlisle is pretty dire though, collecting just one solitary point from their last six matches on the road. The Cumbrians have conceded a hefty ten goals in these games while only scoring once themselves.
Crewe find themselves struggling down in 18th position in the League One table having picked up 34 points from their 32 matches. Carlisle meanwhile are just outside the automatic promotion places, in third, having taken 52 points from 30 games.
For a detailed analysis of team form guides throughout the leagues, click here
| Last six games form guide | P | W | D | L | F | A | P |
| Crewe | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 6 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 10 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
Nothing appears to be going right for the Cumbrians out on the road recently, yet the Madmen can see a turn around in fortunes as they battle to a victory in a closely fought contest at Crewe Alex.. Away win
| Sequence statistics: | |
| Crewe | Drawn last three matches at home. |
| Carlisle | Four games since last defeat. Not won in previous ten away matches. |