- Eastleigh have won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five matches.
- Shrewsbury Town have won three, drawn one and lost one of their last five.
- Eastleigh have scored ten goals in their last five home games across all competitions.
A close and cagey affair likely
Gavin Cowan's Shrewsbury Town are a well-organised, physical and highly flexible unit on the pitch which can switch up their shape according to the situation. Cowan's men are generally a 'structure first' side and are flexible in shape. Shrewsbury Town are the odds-on favourite here at 17/20 with Eastleigh a 301/100 outsider and the draw is 5/2, which is pretty steep for an FA Cup tie of this nature. Eastleigh have a real platform to build from at Silverlake Stadium as they have won three, drawn one and lost just one of their five home matches in all competitions this term. Matt Gray's side are set up in a compact 4-2-3-1, where they are at their best when sitting in and punching when necessary. Aaron Blair has been the danger man for The Spitfires of late, hitting four of their seven goals in the last five games.
Goals could be on the cards
Josh Davison has been the driving force behind Shrewsbury's season thus far and he has scored three of Salop's nine goals across their last five.
Shrewsbury Town have won two, drawn one and lost just one of their four away trips across all competitions and they should arrive at Silverlake with some good legs. Salop took Everton U21 down 2-1 at home in the EFL Trophy last time out, while they come into this having slipped to a 2-1 defeat at home to Gillingham in League Two.
Eastleigh's results over the last few games have been a mixed bag with the most recent result being a 4-2 home win over Boston United, while prior to that they were beaten 2-0 away to Forest Green Rovers and held 1-1 away to Barrow.
I am confident that Saturday's game will be a cagey one, but I think the visitors have the edge and have a much better chance of progressing to the next round. Eastleigh are likely to get frustrated at times, but they have the ability to land a punch or two, so I am recommending over 2.5 goals at 69/100 and both teams to score at 13/20.
