- Team form: Salford City have won 2, drawn 2 and lost 1 of their last 5 matches in all competitions.
- Opponents form: Shrewsbury Town have won 1, drawn 2 and lost 2 of their last 5.
- Home form: Salford have not lost at home in 5 games (W3, D2).
A tough encounter at Peninsula Stadium
Prediction:
It is hard to put a finger on which way this one will go, but we will side with the favorites, Salford City, to find a way to force their way through and win on home turf. With such a close match expected however, there is certainly a chance that Shrewsbury can pinch a result.
Salford's style and form:
Peter Cklamovski has made Salford a real force this season. Their brand of high-energy, front-foot pressing soccer combined with a possession first 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 has made them a tough team to play against, and that has shown in their results.
Despite a mixed 5-game run, Salford will be desperate to build on a 3-2 home win over Dundee United FC last time out. Their 3-0 defeat to Notts County was a reminder of the vulnerabilities in this side, but 5 wins, 3 draws and 2 defeats across their current competitions leaves them in good stead coming into this one.
Shrewsbury and head-to-head:
Shrewsbury will hope that they can upset the odds however, and they have done so in previous meetings. Shrewsbury won the last meeting between these two sides 2-1 in League Two, and Salford have won two of the last three. Both sides will feel they have a chance, but Shrewsbury come into this game on the back foot after two consecutive defeats, a 1-0 away loss to Gillingham and a 4-1 defeat at home to West Bromwich.
An end-to-end contest
Gavin Cowan has fashioned a back-three blueprint which has his men sitting deep and compact, looking to counter with pace down the wings. This is a classic press vs block matchup, with Salford trying to pin the wing-backs back, while Shrewsbury will be looking to create space behind the lines.
- Shrewsbury's away form in all comps is D1, L4 and they've scored just 0.20 goals per game on average away from home, scoring just once.
- Salford have scored 9 goals in their last 5 home games across all comps, so they are the team who have the cutting edge.
- Adebola Oluwo has been the catalyst for the hosts' recent good form, scoring 2 goals in their 5-game run and setting the tempo.
There’s no value in the moneyline
Salford City are odds-on at 1.52 for this game, while Shrewsbury are 6.2 and the draw is 4.0. We will avoid the moneyline for this cup game as we believe the teams are not evenly matched and Shrewsbury's poor form could make this a scrappy contest.
Under 2.5 goals is available at 1.95 and Both Teams To Score is 1.9, so we are backing both for a close, cagey match which Salford should edge on home control and current form.
