Crewe slipped out of the top three places last weekend as they were held at home by Exeter City, but they head north with a four-game unbeaten league run to protect.
September was a good month for the Alex, with their only league blemish a home defeat at the hands of Cambridge when two goals in the space of three minutes for the U's turned the game on its head (Crewe had been reduced to 10 men just before the break to add more spice to the mix).
Seven league victories in total have been the building block for the good start to the campaign - matched only by current table-toppers Forest Green - and a healthy 19 goals suggests that confidence is high for the Gresty Road outfit.
Experienced forward Chris Porter leads the charts with five goals to his name so far, and he's had back-up by four strikes from Tommy Lowery and three each from Charlie Kirk and Eddie Nolan.
Always a good game, between two teams who like to play football the right way, it should be another interesting encounter this weekend.
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Manager’s thoughts ...
Speaking ahead of the game manager Steven Pressley said: "Crewe are a good side who rightly have a reputation for playing attactive football.
"They also have an ability to mix things up so this won't be an easy contest for us at all.
"They have a good manager who has been able to stamp his mark on the way they do things and I think they're seeing the benefit of that with the start to the season they've had.
"We obviously came out of the weekend feeling disappointed, having dominated the 90 minutes only to lose to an unbelievable strike with the last kick of the game. I said this in the post-match press conference, but if we keep playing to those levels we will win games and pick up points more often than we don't.
"The players have been upbeat and bright in training because they know they're playing well. They know they're improving all the time and I have no doubt we'll continue to cause problems for opposition teams. I'm sure the results will also come with that."
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Did You Know?
+ Crewe’s first cup success actually came in the Welsh Cup, which they won in 1936 and 1937 before being banned from the competition.
+ In 1995, the Railwaymen went 56 games without winning away from home, until a 1-0 win at Southport stopped the rot.
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Head to Head
The sides have met regularly over the years – 91 times in total – with United having won 40 of those encounters to Crewe’s 37.
| Carlisle wins | Draws | Crewe wins | |
| League | 36 | 12 | 34 |
| FA Cup | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Cup | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| League Cup | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 40 | 14 | 37 |
We were at Gresty Road twice last season, with the last meeting between these teams coming in February this year. Chris Porter got the Alex off to an explosive start with three minutes on the clock, and the afternoon took another downward turn when Jamie Devitt was given his marching orders with just 20 minutes of the game having passed by. Gary Miller bagged a beauty to level things up before the break, but former-Blue Shaun Miller made sure the points stayed at home when he came off the bench to score the winner.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
We were down in Crewe a few months earlier for a first round FA Cup meeting. The Blues missed a penalty but won the game in dramatic fashion when keeper Ben Garratt got his bearings wrong as he smashed a poor clearance right at Jamie Devitt in time added on. The shocked stopper could do nothing as the rebound found its way into his bottom corner.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Our first meeting last term was at the end of August, just five games into the campaign. It was a match of ups and downs for the Blues as they played good football, with Hope and Yates going close early in the piece. The down side for the Blues was the loss of Grainger and Fryer to injury, but Ashley Nadesan left everyone smiling when he grabbed the winner and his first goal of the season with 20 minutes left to play.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Looking back to the 2017/18 season and the away game went the way of the Blues with goals from Danny Grainger [2], Reggie Lambe and Hallam Hope added to by an own goal from former-Carlisle centre back Michael Raynes, which combined to give United a comfortable 5-0 away victory back in the September of that campaign.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The home game in the January was a much closer affair, with a late strike from Sam Cosgrove the difference between the sides.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
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Man in the middle
Our referee for this game is Mr Darren England. Darren has taken charge of eight games so far this season and has shown 15 yellow cards.
It's been three years since we last had Darren as our match official, when he took charge of the 2-0 away defeat at Rodney Parade.
Luke Joyce and Charlie Wyke went in the book - with goals either side of the break having done the damage.
Referee – Darren England
Assistant Referee 1 – Philip Dermott
Assistant Referee 2 – James Mainwaring
Fourth Official – Nick Greenhalgh
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Ticket information
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