English FA CUP
2019-01-26 - Shrewsbury Town vs Wolves
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English FA Cup Fourth Round
Saturday 26th January 2019 - Kick Off 3pm
Shrewsbury Town
After only just falling short in their bid to be promoted to the Championship several months ago, Shrewsbury Town have been in the midst of a much more difficult campaign in the 2018/19 season. They are firmly encased in a relegation battle in League One, but this weekend Sam Ricketts will be focusing on managing his team against the club he captained to a League One title a few years ago.
A difficult start to the season meant John Askey was removed as manager of Shrewsbury Town and Sam Ricketts was appointed having had success with Wrexham in the National League. He has yet to have the type of impact he would have liked as manager of The Shrews, but the most memorable result has been the 2-3 win at Stoke City in the FA Cup Third Round.
Shrewsbury Town have won 1 of their last 8 games in all competitions and that was the FA Cup tie I have mentioned above. The home form had not been the best with a single win from their last 4 games, but Shrewsbury Town were beaten 0-3 by Charlton Athletic to snap a 10 game unbeaten run at the Montgomery Waters Meadow.
Sam Ricketts is a former Wolves captain and would love to get one over on his former club, but this is a difficult game against a club on the up. He should select his strongest eleven even with an important League One fixture to be played on Tuesday as Shrewsbury Town continue their battle to avoid relegation.
Wolves
Things have changed markedly for Wolves in the last few years with a huge financial investment helping the club return to the top flight. Nuno Espirito Santo is still looking to earn some consistency in the Premier League, but his Wolves side are a genuine contender to win the FA Cup and the League performances should mean they can begin to prioritise a Cup run.
It will never be more important than Premier League games at this stage of the competition, but the team selected in the Third Round win over Liverpool suggests Wolves are keen to go as far as possible. The draw looks to be a good one against a struggling League One opponent, but Wolves have not been beyond the Fifth Round of the FA Cup since the 2002/03 season and only reached the Fifth Round twice in that time.
Wolves scored a very late winner to beat Leicester City 4-3 in a very entertaining Premier League game last Saturday, but they have now won 3 and lost 2 of their last 5 games in all competitions to underline their inconsistencies. They had been unbeaten in 3 away games and had won 2 of those before Wolves were comfortably swatted aside by Manchester City in their last away game.
Willy Boly is suspended but there are no other injury concerns in the Wolves squad. There will likely be some changes to freshen things up with Matt Doherty expected to be restored to the starting eleven.
Head to Head
Wolves and Shrewsbury Town last met in the 2013/14 season when both were playing in League One and that underlines the progress made by the former in the last six seasons.
It was Wolves who won 0-1 at Shrewsbury Town that season as they were promoted back to the Championship.
Prediction
Playing away from home in the FA Cup against a lower League club may offer some trepidation for Premier League players knowing how they will be received if they are upset in those fixtures.
Things have changed from years gone by though and these days you are less likely to be asked to play on tremendously poor pitches as you would have done before. This should make things more comfortable for a passing side like Wolves, although the temperatures in the United Kingdom have dipped and it could have hardened the Montgomery Waters Meadow playing surface.
It is still a huge ask for Sam Ricketts to mastermind an upset over the club he captained to the League One title in the 2013/14 season. The new manager has yet to have the kind of impact he would have liked with his Shrewsbury Town team and 1 win from the last 8 games in all competitions does not inspire a lot of confidence.
Shrewsbury Town also saw a long unbeaten run at home come to an end in their 0-3 defeat to Charlton Athletic last time out and I do think it will be very hard to contain their visitors.
Nuno Espirito Santo picked a strong team in the win over Liverpool in the Third Round and I do think the FA Cup is a realistic target for a Wolves team who have shown they can compete with the best in the Premier League. They are back in Premier League action during the week, but Wolves won't want to add to a February fixture list by taking chances with this fixture and having to play a Replay.
I imagine the team selection will reflect that and Wolves have shown they are very productive on their travels throughout this season. This is a team who does have goals in the side and I think they are going to be able to hit Shrewsbury Town on the break to complete the victory in this Fourth Round tie.
Wolves should be too good for a struggling League One team on what should be a decent playing surface and I will back them to cover the Asian Handicap here.
The Pick :
Shrewsbury Town 0-3 Wolves
