Southend vs Crewe Betting Pick | English League Two

English League Two

2012-05-16 - Southend vs Crewe

A Sports Betting Pick by Auls

Southend v Crewe
Football: English League Two Play Off Semi Final Second Leg
Wednesday 16 May 2012 - Kick Off 7:45pm
This game is live on TV
Crewe lead the tie 1-0

Southend

Southend were beaten 1-0 at Gresty Road in the first leg of this tie over the weekend and now are in a tough spot to overturn that result and make their way to Wembley for the Play Off Final. They have already had the disappointment of missing out on automatic promotion by one point so they have a couple of emotional hurdles to overcome in this one.

The team finished 4th in League Two and missed out on automatic promotion to Crawley Town by the solitary point. They finished with a 12-6-5 record at Roots Hall, scoring 36 goals and conceding 18.

Southend finished with a decent run of form to end the season, winning 4 of their last 5 regular season games, the other ending in a draw, and their loss to Crewe was the first they have suffered since the beginning of April. Southend have won 4 in a row at Roots Hall, keeping clean sheets in each of those games, since a loss to Aldershot in March.

Paul Sturrock has says his squad are facing a real injury crisis ahead of this game and claims that '70%' of the team that played at Gresty Road came back with knocks. Mark Philips is a major doubt for this game after suffering a shoulder injury in the first leg.

Crewe

Crewe rode a long run of unbeaten form to get themselves into the Play Offs as they look to get back into the third tier of English football. They will travel down south in the hope that they can hold on to the advantage they have gained from the first leg.

The team finished 7th in the League Two table, 11 points behind their opponents, but that has given them the opportunity to win the lottery the Play Offs are. They finished with a 9-6-8 record away from home, scoring 29 goals and conceding 31 and only four clubs in the League managed more away wins than Crewe this season.

As I said above, Crewe have been riding a long run of unbeaten form which has now stretched to 17 games in the League since a loss at this Stadium back in February. Over half of those games have finished with the team drawing games, but that would be a result that would more than suffice today. Crewe are unbeaten in their last 7 away games in the League, but they have won just 2 of those.

The only major doubt from the team that started the first leg is Luke Murphy who will need to pass a fitness test to join the team today.

Head to Head

This is the fourth meeting between the teams this season with Southend winning the first two and Crewe winning what some what consider the most important one so far.

Southend beat Crewe 1-0 here in February, the last team to beat Crewe, but they had been beaten on Crewe's last 2 previous visits to Roots Hall.

Prediction

It looks like a lot of people are going to be backing the home team to overcome the deficit from the first leg and at least force extra time tonight, but I have a feeling the injuries in their squad may just have come at the wrong time and Crewe may just be able to sneak through by getting a result here.

They have been riding a long unbeaten run and they must have plenty of confidence that they can get a result from this game. In recent weeks, they drew at Crawley Town, who finished above Southend, and also at Torquay United, who finished just two points behind Southend.

Southend have a very respectable home record in recent weeks, winning their last 4 games here, but they are going against history when just 7 of 50 teams that have tried to overturn a first leg deficit have done so at home since they started.

It will be a tough night for both teams, but taking Crewe to avoid defeat looks the best way forward for me.