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The Blues travel to Cheshire tomorrow evening, needing to turn around their fortunes on Gresty Road. United hoping to improve on a record which has seen them lose 22 and win only eight of the 39 games at Crewe over the years.
Last season in League One though Carlisle won 1-0 on a Tuesday night in late February, that game coming just ten days after the original fixture at Crewe had been postponed at the last minute due to a frozen pitch. Scott Dobie's 64th minute goal won all three points for the Blues but of more concern as it would turn out was the knee ligament injury that Joe Garner sustained in what eventually became his last game in Carlisle colours.
The Blues last won away to Crewe before that 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 | |||||
| 2008/2009 | We 03 Dec | Carlisle | 0 - 2 | Crewe | FAC |
| 2008/2009 | Sat 16 Aug | Carlisle | 4 - 2 | Crewe | LGE1 |
| 2007/2008 | Tue 26 Feb | Crewe | 0 - 1 | Carlisle | LGE1 |
| 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 |
Recent respective form guides
Crewe are showing reasonable home form as of late, having won four and lost two from their last six matches played at the Alexandra Stadium. The goals for column just outweighs the goals against over this entertaining period at twelve to ten.
Carlisle meanwhile have the very definiton of an average recent record on the road, with two wins, two draws, and two defeats in their last six games away from Brunton Park, seven goals having also been both scored and conceded in this period.
Crewe are hovering perilously just above the relegation zone, in 19th, with 34 points from their 32 matches contested to date. So are Carlisle though as they find themselves struggling down in 17th position in the League One table having picked up 37 points from their 33 matches played so far.
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 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 15 |
| Carlisle | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
FootyMad's prediction ...
Carlisle have an average recent record on the road, and this could be the reason why Crewe may poach a narrow victory, according to the Madmen. Home win
| Sequence statistics | |
| Crewe | Won their latest four games. 11 matches since last home draw. Won four successive home games. Not drawn a match in their last ten outings. |
| Carlisle | No win in the three most recent games. |