MK Dons have experienced their best ever start to a season, recording wins in their first two league games as well as success in the first round of the Carabao Cup. This weekend, they travel to Crewe Alexandra to see if they can continue their 100% start and keep pace with the League Two leaders.
MK Dons Travel to Crewe to Continue Their Solid Start
Two Heavy Defeats
Fixtures between these two sides rarely disappoint. In seven of the last nine meetings between them, two or more goals have been scored. Both of these teams have found the net plenty of times already this season, with the Dons having scored three in their Carabao Cup victory over Charlton and Crewe having hit six on the opening day.
In just the last two games between MK Dons and Crewe, 12 goals have been scored. In the Dons’ promotion-winning season of 2014/15, they were 6-1 victors in their home game and ran out 5-0 winners in the reverse fixture at Gresty Road. This series of results is MK Dons’ biggest aggregate score over one team in any season.
Key Men
MK Dons
Paul Tisdale has taken his opportunity at MK Dons to experiment with the team. There have been some big changes between the three starting lineups that have been fielded so far, with youngsters David Kasumu, Dylan Asonganyi and Oran Jackson all gaining valuable minutes, the introductions of Baily Cargill and Ryan Watson, and the re-call of Ousseynou Cisse.
While all of the above have impressed, it’s Cisse’s re-introduction to the team that has had a massive effect. The midfielder scored the late winners against Bury after entering as a substitute, which earned him a start in the cup against Charlton. He ran the show when the Addicks came to Stadium MK, playing further up the field that he is used to and proving to be the perfect link between midfield and attack.
Crewe have used a 4-4-2 formation in each of their games so far, so having Cisse operate in this space once again could provide some problems for their defence. They will be drawn to him, not only because he will be in so much space, but also because of his sheer physicality; they will want to dispossess him as soon as possible.
Crewe
Much of Crewe’s experience and quality lies in their attack. The club have a lot of academy graduates in the first team, but few strikers seem to be making the grade. Instead, they have four players that are proven at this level; Chris Porter, Shaun Miller, Jordan Bowery and Alex Nicholls.
Nicholls, along with James Jones, scored a brace on the opening day against Morecambe, suggesting that they may be the main scoring threats for Crewe. Ryan Wintle also found the net, his goal coming against Fleetwood the cup. He and midfield partner Jones have three goals between them already, so could be a threat to the MK Dons defence when they come forward.
Prediction
The Dons have demonstrated that they have solved their goal-scoring problems of last season, although manager Paul Tisdale has called for players to keep their feet on the ground, saying there will be games without goals and games that they do not win.
Despite this, on paper, they have a superior squad to Crewe, and with only one goal conceded, they shouldn’t have too many problems at the back. However, the so-called ‘home advantage’ may see Crewe have more of the ball, thus having more opportunities to score, so don’t be surprised to see them find the back of the net.
Prediction: Crewe 1-2 MK Dons
Main Photo
