Shrewsbury Town have a chance to win their opening two League One matches for the first time since 2017-18 when they visit Broadhall Way to battle Stevenage on Saturday.
Both sides were victorious in their opening league fixtures last weekend as the Boro scored late to beat a fellow newly-promoted side in Northampton Town 1-0, while the Shrews defeated Charlton Athletic by that same score.
Match preview
© Reuters
Stevenage began life in League One promisingly, holding Northampton to only two shots on target in their first third-tier domestic fixture in nine years.
Steve Evans has orchestrated quite the turnaround for a club near the relegation zone when he took charge in March 2022, sitting 22nd in the table at the time, before moving them up to second last season with 85 points, 35 more than in their 2021-22 League Two campaign.
They were among the top defensive units in League Two a season ago, conceding the third-fewest goals (39) and following their victory last weekend, this team have not conceded in three successive domestic matches played away from home dating back to 2022-23.
Stevenage made the most of their home-field advantage early last season, claiming maximum points from their opening seven fixtures, while losing only one of their final seven League Two encounters at Broadhall Way.
Saturday may be the first time they face an experienced League One opponent in this competition since 2013-14 though this club have been renowned for upsetting teams above them in the English football league system, taking out Premier League side Aston Villa (2-1) in the third round of the previous FA Cup and beating fellow League One teams Reading (2-1) and Peterborough United (1-0) at the last EFL Cup.
On Tuesday, they created another EFL Cup surprise, coming back from a goal down to defeat Championship side Watford 4-3 on penalties after the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
© Reuters
Coming off their best finish to a League One campaign in five years (12th), Matt Taylor began his tenure as the Shrewsbury boss positively.
The 41-year-old from Oxford replaced the popular Steve Cotterill, who had been in charge for nearly three years, and early on, Taylor's side have held their own, defeating a promotional contender in Charlton and being 45 minutes away from upsetting Championship side Leeds United in the EFL Cup this week, conceding twice in the second half to lose 2-1.
Fans may have loved Cotterill, but in the latter stages of the 2022-23 season, this team rarely experienced many positive results, capturing only one of their final 10 domestic affairs, including eight defeats.
Salop lost their last six away matches in League One a season ago and have not won a road match in this competition since a 1-0 triumph over Oxford United in February.
The Shrews will enter this match having scored just once in their previous five away fixtures in this competition and have been outscored by a combined margin of 12-1 over that stretch.
Not since the 2013-14 League One season have they defeated Stevenage at Broadhall Way, coming back to score three unanswered goals and winning 3-1.
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Newcomers Finley Burns, Nathan Thompson, Dan Butler, Ben Thompson, Louis Thompson and Aaron Pressley all debuted for Stevenage last Saturday in the starting 11, while Nick Freeman came on as a substitute for his first appearance with his new club just beyond the hour mark.
An 80th-minute strike by Carl Piergianni was enough to earn them three points against Northampton Town as Taye Ashby-Hammond only had to make two stops for the clean sheet in his first start in goal for the Boro as a permanent player.
Josh March poked home a close-range effort versus Watford to level that match at one and force penalties, where Krisztian Hegyi was the hero, stopping Rhys Healey from the spot, enabling Stevenage to advance into the next round.
Morgan Feeney, Joe Anderson, Carl Winchester and Taylor Perry were all in the Shrewsbury starting 11 last Saturday for the first time since joining them over the summer transfer window, while Mal Benning made his Shrews debut off the bench, replacing Tom Bayliss for the final 12 minutes plus stoppage time.
Ryan Bowman scored the only goal in their match against Charlton, while Marko Marosi celebrated his 100th cap with Salop by saving four shots for the clean sheet.
Appearance number 101 was not so lucky for Marosi, though as Joe Gelhardt and Pascal Struijk scored six minutes apart in the second half for Leeds, cancelling out the opening goal by Perry, his first with the Shrews.
Stevenage possible starting lineup:
Ashby-Hammond; Burns, N. Thompson, Piergianni; James-Wildin, Forster-Caskey, B. Thompson, Freeman; Roberts; March, Pressley
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Marosi; Feeney, Flanagan, Anderson; Winchester, Perry, Kenneh, Bayliss; Hernes; Bowman, Udoh
We say: Stevenage 1-0 Shrewsbury Town
Just like a season ago, the Boro have been creating surprises, and we believe they will be able to frustrate the Shrews on Saturday and find another way to win.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Joel Lefevre
