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.
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 qWellensas 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).
Links >> Stream 1 HD Stream 2 HD Stream 3 HD Stream 4 HD
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.
