National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Crewe Alexandra or Shrewsbury Town 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
Last season, Alexandra's EFL Trophy journey ended in the group stage.When playing at home in the League One, Crewe Alexandra have managed 2 wins, 1 draw and suffered 3 defeats from 6 games. With three straight defeats the pressure is piling up on Crewe Alexandra to get some points in this home game. We have seen two home losses in a row now for Alexandra, who are hoping that the phrase “third time lucky” applies to them.
Alexandra haven't scored a league goal since they found the net 290 minutes ago. H. Pickering scored that one.
Happy days for Crewe Alexandra in their previous game, a FA Cup match away at Bolton Wanderers that ended with a 3-2 victory. Ahead of that match, Alexandra lost 0-1 at home to Gillingham.
Another home game is coming up fairly shortly for the hosts, as Peterborough United are coming to town in four days.
Crewe Alexandra has scored 6 league goals at home this season, in 6 matches. Alexandra have only conceded 5 from their league home games. For more goal stats, check the Statistics tab above.
Shrewsbury Town form and stats
Shrewsbury was sent out of EFL Trophy in the 2nd round last season.The story so far for the visiting team on their League One travels is 1 win, 2 draws and 2 defeats. Shrewsbury seem to be suffering from homesickness with two consecutive losses away. Third time lucky?
It's the second away game in a row for Shrewsbury, but there's smiles all around after the 2-0 victory versus Cambridge United in the FA Cup last time out. Preceding that match was the 1-1 draw at home vs Burton Albion.
A quick return to home after this game, as Shrewsbury are hosting Swindon Town in the League One only four days away.
The visitors have scored 3 goals from 5 away games in the league, an average of less than one per game. 7 goals have been conceded by Shrewsbury in these games.
Head 2 Head
As for the last ten games between these two teams, there's three Crewe Alexandra victories, three draws and four Shrewsbury Town wins. Over/under statistics; four of these games ended with three goals or more, six matches with two goals or less.Top Goalscorers
  M. Mandron 3 goals |  H. Pickering 2 goals | C. Kirk 1 goals |
Crewe Alexandra missing players
Shrewsbury Town missing players
| Crewe Alexandra | Shrewsbury Town | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 12 | 25 | ||
| 12 | 8 | Won | W | 3 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 1 | Drew | D | 2 | 6 | ||
| 9 | 4 | Lost | L | 7 | 13 | ||
| 34 | 19 | Scored | S | 9 | 26 | ||
| 28 | 10 | Conceded | C | 17 | 36 | ||
| 100% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 96% | ||
| 76% | 77% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 50% | 68% | ||
| 48% | 38% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 17% | 36% | ||
| 16% | 8% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 17% | 20% | ||
| 8% | 0% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 17% | 16% | ||
| 52% | 38% | BTTS | BTTS | 25% | 48% | ||
| 20% | 38% | Clean Sheets | C S | 33% | 24% | ||
| 28% | 23% | Failed to Score | F T | 50% | 32% | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 0 | 0 | ||
| 0.9 | 1.2 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.5 | 2.3 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 2 | 3 | ||
| 313 | 178 | Total Shots | T S | 117 | 316 | ||
| 115 | 67 | Shots on Target | S O | 30 | 86 | ||
| 30% | 28% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 30% | 30% | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Peterborough United | 11 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 12 | 25 |
| 2 | Ipswich Town | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 22 |
| 3 | Charlton Athletic | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 22 |
| 4 | Lincoln City | 11 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 22 |
| 5 | Hull City | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 16 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| 6 | Sunderland | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 21 |
| 7 | Portsmouth | 11 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 4 | 9 | 20 |
| 8 | Plymouth Argyle | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 18 |
| 9 | Doncaster Rovers | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 17 |
| 10 | Fleetwood Town | 11 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 16 |
| 11 | AFC Wimbledon | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 14 |
| 12 | Blackpool | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -4 | 13 |
| 13 | Gillingham | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 10 | 15 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | -5 | 13 |
| 14 | Accrington Stanley | 7 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -1 | 12 |
| 15 | Bristol Rovers | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 7 | -5 | 12 |
| 16 | Rochdale | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 11 | -7 | 12 |
| 17 | Northampton Town | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 11 | -10 | 11 |
| 18 | Crewe Alexandra | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -1 | 10 |
| 19 | Milton Keynes Dons | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 9 | -2 | 10 |
| 20 | Swindon Town | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 11 | -5 | 9 |
| 21 | Oxford United | 9 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | -6 | 9 |
| 22 | Shrewsbury Town | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | -7 | 7 |
| 23 | Burton Albion | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 13 | 21 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 12 | -8 | 7 |
| 24 | Wigan Athletic | 11 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 10 | -10 | 7 |