Doncaster vs Crewe Prediction: Rovers to remain on top in second leg

Friday night will see the first League 2 team book their place at Wembley as Doncaster Rovers host Crewe Alexandra at the Eco-Power Stadium (20:00). Live on Sky Sports Main Event, Grant McCann will be hoping to steer his side to the final, having secured an impressive 2-0 win in the first leg. 

Crewe have an awful lot of work to do, and they are coming up against one of the most in-form sides in English football right now. But this is the play-offs, and anything is possible. Below you can find my Doncaster vs Crewe prediction, featuring team news and match odds. 

Team News

More of the same is expected from the home side after their 2-0 success at Gresty Road. Luke Molyneux scored the opener in Cheshire while striker Joe Ironside will want to have more of an impact on proceedings than he managed to have in the first leg. Billy Waters will be hoping to get on the pitch against his former club, after coming through the academy at Crewe as a teenager. 

Alex are expected to make a few changes as they chase down this two-goal deficit. Courtney Baker-Richardson is likely to return to the starting XI after the target man started the last two games on the bench following an injury that kept him out for over a month. He will provide a different threat, and manager Lee Bell could partner him with Elliot Nevitt or Chris Long to give the away side an aerial threat. 

Conor Thomas could also start in midfield to offer more experience in the centre of the park, given 20-year-old Joel Tabiner and 22-year-old Josh Austerfield both failed to make an impact in the first leg. 

Match Odds

Donny are priced at 4/5 to win this game after 90 minutes, while Crewe 16/5 to secure a victory. A draw can be backed at 3/1, while BTTS and over 2.5 goals are both 8/11. 

Doncaster to win @ 4/5

This is a fairly straightforward selection from my point of view. I know they already hold a two-goal lead from the first leg, but in my eyes, Doncaster are just far superior to Crewe at this moment in time and I don’t think Alex have the ability to beat them right now. Given they are 2-0 down, they will need to come out and attack Rovers, and I don’t think that particularly suits them at this moment in time. 

Bell’s men could go more direct, but Doncaster have the ability to get the ball down and tear them apart if they start to throw bodies forward. I predicted a big away win in the first leg, and I’m sticking to my belief that Rovers will end up in League 1 by the end of the month. They should be able to secure another win over Crewe on Friday night. 

Doncaster to score in both halves @ 6/4

With Ironside, Molyneux, Harrison Biggins and Hakeeb Adelakun all in good form, I’m expecting Doncaster’s excellent goalscoring form to continue at the Eco-Power Stadium. Donny haven’t failed to score since late January in any game, while they have now scored 16 goals in their last five matches.

I don’t think this team will sit back and see out the lead they currently have, it just doesn’t suit them. They aren’t perfect defensively and so the best form of defence is attack. They scored in both halves in the first leg, and scored eight goals in their last two home matches of the regular league season. Rovers have been an exceptional side in 2024, and they should comfortably book their place at Wembley with another impressive performance. 

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