The opening round of the 2022-23 FA Cup begins on Saturday for Crewe Alexandra as they host the League Two leaders Leyton Orient at Gresty Road.
The Railwaymen have not won a home fixture at this competition since 2019-20, dropping their opening match last season 3-0 to Swindon Town, while Orient advanced to the third round of this tournament in 2021-22.
Match preview
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It has been a difficult few weeks for the club from Cheshire, who are winless in their last seven domestic encounters, scoring a goal or fewer in each of those contests.
Alex Morris came into a challenging situation with this club, replacing David Artell in April of last season, with Crewe losing eight consecutive domestic encounters before he was promoted to manager.
While he could not save them from relegation into League Two on that occasion, this campaign has been slightly improved from the previous one, as Crewe have captured four victories so far, only three fewer than they had in League One a season ago.
The Alex have captured each of their last four meetings against Leyton Orient in all competitions, though this will be the first time the two teams meet in the FA Cup.
Earlier this week, they collected their first points of the Football League Trophy campaign, edging the Leeds United Under-21 team on penalties after the match ended 0-0.
They have not fared well at home in this competition of late, capturing just one of their last 11 matches played at Gresty Road, defeating Rotherham in November 2017 and Eastleigh in December 2019.
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Over in East London, the O's are off to a tremendous start to the 2022-23 campaign, winning 12 of their 16 matches played domestically, suffering just one defeat with 39 points so far in League Two.
Since the appointment of Richie Wellens as manager last season, we have seen this group maintain a much higher level of intensity, as they have been successful when playing out from the back.
That patience and poise has paid off this season, with Leyton conceding the fewest goals in League Two so far (nine), while scoring the second-most (26).
Orient have not experienced anywhere near that kind of success in this competition away from home though, losing their last six away fixtures in the FA Cup proper, conceding 18 goals, while scoring just one over that stretch.
Heading into Saturday's contest, the O's are unbeaten in four straight-away matches this season, posting two clean sheets during that time.
If they can win this upcoming encounter, it would be the first time Leyton have reached the second round of the FA Cup in consecutive campaigns since a run of four between 2010-11 and 2013-14.
Team News
Dan Agyei and Regan Griffiths were the only Crewe players to score in their shootout victory over the Leeds United Under-21 squad earlier this week, while Dave Richards stopped Darko Gyabi on the final shot to preserve the win.
Kelvin Mellor, Rio Adebisi and Bassala Sambou were the only players who began the match versus Barrow to keep their place in the starting 11 on Tuesday.
Courtney Baker-Richardson has not scored since October 22, but he has notched seven goals in the domestic campaign, tied for the fourth-most in League Two.
Lawrence Vigouroux has not conceded in back-to-back fixtures for Leyton, as Paul Smyth had their only strike in a 1-0 triumph over Salford City last weekend.
Theo Archibald had a brace, and Aaron Drinan notched the winner in their previous road fixture, which they won 3-2 over Carlisle.
We saw two new faces to the O's starting 11 this past weekend as Idris El Mizouni and Smyth replaced Jordan Brown and Jayden Wareham.
Crewe Alexandra possible starting lineup:
Okonkwo; Williams, Offord, Mellor; Uwakwe, Finney, Tabiner, Thomas, Adebisi; Baker-Richardson, Agyei
Leyton Orient possible starting lineup:
Vigouroux; James, Beckles, Happe, Hunt; Pratley, Brown; Archibald, Sotiriou, Smyth; Drinan
We say: Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Leyton Orient
It is hard to imagine a side who struggle so much in the final third, like Crewe, find a way past a defensive unit as well-organised and compact as Leyton have been in 2022-23.
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