Six of one and half a dozen of the other
Both Grimsby and Crewe have made a brilliant start to the 2019-20 season. The Mariners finally appear to be turning a corner and David Artell’s young side have matured nicely. Who will come out on top this weekend? Have a read of our preview here:
Stability the key for both clubs
It is refreshing to see a couple of clubs go head to head with neither having made the poor decision to change the manager at the first sign of trouble. This is something that most chairman and boards find very hard to do and often you will see a club panic at the first sniff of a bad run.
The Mariners gave Michael Jolley, a manager who doesn’t come from a playing background, time to recruit his own players across three transfer windows and it has started to pay dividends for the League Two outfit.
Last season was disappointing in what was Jolley’s first full campaign in charge. He had done well to save them from relegation in the previous year after Russell Slade had taken the club to the brink of relegation but there were too many poor performances as the Mariners finished 17th.
One of the problems was Grimsby’s inability to score goals and Jolley appears to have rectified that this summer. The capture of James Hanson is hugely impressive and the having Elliott Whitehouse fit again is massive too. Matt Green and Moses Ogbu were also snapped up and there now appears to be quality and depth in an attack that only scored 45 goals in 46 games last season.
The kids are alright
Crewe are well known for their youth development and David Artell has a squad full of academy products. The talented Perry Ng has been given the captain’s armband this season after a brilliant year last season and the attacking talents of both Tommy Lowery and Charlie Kirk have been added to with some sensible recruitment.
Daniel Powell has slotted in well and adds power and versatility to the front line while Chuma Anene arrives on loan to offer the team another option when the evergreen Chris Porter needs a rest.
Grimsby also have some exciting talent coming through with Harry Clifton and Max Wright looking impressive in midfield and Mattie Pollock is an able defender.
It should be a great game at Blundell Park where both sides are severely tested.
Grimsby v Crewe betting tip
Grimsby have already hit 13 goals in League Two this season while Crewe have netted seven. In what should be an attacking game backing both teams to score at odds of 10/13 is our pick here.
