National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Crewe Alexandra or Rotherham United that keep their silverware dream alive.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Crewe Alexandra form and stats
Action has already taken place for Crewe Alexandra in EFL Trophy as they have defeated Shrewsbury Town, Doncaster Rovers, Wolves U21 and Wigan Athletic to reach the 3rd Round. Alexandra participated in EFL Trophy the last season, where they reached the 2nd round.The story so far in the League One for Crewe Alexandra at their home stadium (Alexandra Stadium) is 3 wins, 3 draws and 5 defeats. This match is a EFL Trophy match, and the hometeam has the total statistics 4 wins, 0 draws and 0 losses in this competition.
The fans are hoping that Alexandra will strike back in this match, putting things right after the 1-4 away loss in the League One game against Burton Albion. The forward Porter bettered all others in that game and managed a match rating of 7.15 out of 10.
Before that match, a League One win away at Morecambe.Alexandra has scored 12 league goals at home this season, in 11 matches. It's worth mentioning that 7 of these goals has been scored in their last three home matches. With more than 1,5 conceded goals on average, the Alexandra defense is not exactly impregnable. 18 goals conceded from 11 games. You can find more goal stats on the Statistics tab above. There's been improvement defensively lately, as only 0 of these goals has been conceded in their last three home matches.
Rotherham United form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Manchester City U21, Doncaster Rovers, Port Vale and Scunthorpe United in order to reach 3rd round of EFL Trophy.The visitors are W6-D3-L2 on the road this term. That's in the League One. Total EFL Trophy statistics for Rotherham United: 3 wins, 1 draw and 0 losses.
Smith (2) scored in Rotherham's previous match, the home game against Bolton Wanderers that ended 2-1. Attacker Smith got a player rating of 8.81 in the game. "Man of the match" Smith scored two goals and hit two key passes.
Prior to that match, the Rotherham manager Warne faced defeat when travelling to Accrington Stanley and losing 0-1.The visitors will be packing their bags again in only four days as another away game awaits: The FA Cup trip to Queens Park Rangers.
Scoring goals is the main ingredient in creating success in football, and not only at home. So far Rotherham have scored 13 goals in 11 league games away. Rotherham United are tighter than a frog's bottom, as only 4 away goals have been conceded so far.
Head 2 Head
H2H stats regardless of arena (last ten matches): Alexandra one win, four draws and Rotherham United five victories. As for goals, six matches ended with three or more goals (over 2,5), four games had two or less.Top Goalscorers
  M. Smith 13 goals |  F. Ladapo 8 goals |  D. Barlaser 6 goals |
Crewe Alexandra missing players
Rotherham United missing players
| Crewe Alexandra | Rotherham United | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 10 | 25 | ||
| 8 | 6 | Won | W | 6 | 17 | ||
| 5 | 2 | Drew | D | 3 | 6 | ||
| 12 | 5 | Lost | L | 1 | 2 | ||
| 29 | 18 | Scored | S | 18 | 60 | ||
| 41 | 19 | Conceded | C | 3 | 16 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 90% | 92% | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 70% | 80% | ||
| 48% | 46% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 20% | 52% | ||
| 24% | 31% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 10% | 36% | ||
| 12% | 8% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 10% | 28% | ||
| 48% | 31% | BTTS | BTTS | 20% | 48% | ||
| 28% | 46% | Clean Sheets | C S | 70% | 48% | ||
| 24% | 23% | Failed to Score | F T | 20% | 12% | ||
| 4.1 | 4.2 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 7.2 | 6.8 | ||
| 5.8 | 5.1 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.3 | 3.7 | ||
| 1.6 | 0.8 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.1 | 1.8 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 1 | ||
| 10.6 | 11.2 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 14 | 15 | ||
| 3.8 | 4.5 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 5 | 5.7 | ||
| 30% | 31% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 36% | 42% | ||
| 14.5 | 12.6 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 10.1 | 9.4 | ||
| 4.3 | 3.5 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 3.3 | 3 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Rotherham United | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 45 | 17 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 32 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 28 | 50 |
| 2 | Sunderland | 24 | 15 | 4 | 5 | 47 | 26 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 29 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 49 |
| 3 | Wigan Athletic | 21 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 40 | 20 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 10 | 20 | 45 |
| 4 | Wycombe Wanderers | 24 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 37 | 27 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 14 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 13 | 10 | 45 |
| 5 | Oxford United | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 40 | 25 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 27 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 43 |
| 6 | Plymouth Argyle | 24 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 38 | 25 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 18 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 13 | 43 |
| 7 | Milton Keynes Dons | 23 | 11 | 6 | 6 | 42 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 13 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 16 | 13 | 39 |
| 8 | Sheffield Wednesday | 23 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 30 | 26 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 13 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 15 | 18 | 4 | 37 |
| 9 | Portsmouth | 22 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 28 | 22 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 6 | 36 |
| 10 | Accrington Stanley | 24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 30 | 39 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 19 | 18 | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 21 | -9 | 34 |
| 11 | Ipswich Town | 24 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 39 | 34 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 23 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 16 | 5 | 32 |
| 12 | Burton Albion | 23 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 29 | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 16 | -1 | 31 |
| 13 | Charlton Athletic | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 30 | 29 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 1 | 29 |
| 14 | Cheltenham Town | 24 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 30 | 43 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 23 | -13 | 29 |
| 15 | Shrewsbury Town | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 25 | 29 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 17 | -4 | 26 |
| 16 | Bolton Wanderers | 23 | 7 | 5 | 11 | 30 | 35 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 20 | -5 | 26 |
| 17 | Cambridge United | 23 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 32 | 38 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 17 | 20 | -6 | 26 |
| 18 | AFC Wimbledon | 21 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 30 | 35 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 20 | -5 | 25 |
| 19 | Fleetwood Town | 23 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 36 | 43 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 20 | 20 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 23 | -7 | 22 |
| 20 | Lincoln City | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 24 | 31 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 15 | -7 | 22 |
| 21 | Morecambe | 23 | 5 | 5 | 13 | 30 | 46 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 15 | 19 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 27 | -16 | 20 |
| 22 | Gillingham | 23 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 34 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 20 | -16 | 18 |
| 23 | Crewe Alexandra | 24 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 22 | 43 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 18 | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 25 | -21 | 18 |
| 24 | Doncaster Rovers | 22 | 4 | 4 | 14 | 13 | 39 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 26 | -26 | 16 |
