Preview: Shrewsbury Town vs. Cambridge United - prediction, team news, lineups

Shrewsbury Town take on Cambridge United at Montgomery Waters Meadow on Saturday afternoon.

Steve Cotterill's side find themselves eight points adrift of the intensely competitive playoff positions and equidistant to the bottom four, while The U's are involved in a relegation dogfight after registering only seven victories this season.

Match preview

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Occupying 14th position in the standings, Shrewsbury Town are currently undertaking their eighth successive season in the third tier of English football.

Steve Cotterill's side have registered 17 points from a possible 39 on offer in front of their supporters this season but have only recorded one victory in their last four matches.

Taking a week off from their Football League duties, Cotterill's side welcomed Sunderland to Montgomery Waters Meadow for their third round FA Cup tie on January 7.

However, Shrewsbury's hopes of a place in the hat for the following stage were brought to a heartbreaking conclusion as the Championship outfit found the back of the net twice in second-half injury time.

Nonetheless, the Shropshire-based outfit registered a ninth league success a week later when Cotterill's side made it a hat-trick of away victories at the Pirelli Stadium with a convincing 4-0 win over Burton Albion.

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Without a league victory across three matches, Cambridge United are currently on course to make their first return to the fourth tier of English football since 2021.

Mark Bonner's side will be on the lookout to record consecutive victories over their impending hosts in the wake of only picking up two wins across their previous 14 matches.

A hat-trick of defeats have come Cambridge's way since their aforementioned head-to-head success on Boxing Day, with automatic promotion candidates Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday emerging victorious on December 30 and January 2 respectively.

Returning to winning days would have been a fundamental part of Bonner's team talk when Bristol Rovers travelled to the East of England on January 7. However, things did not go to plan, as goals from Josh Coburn and Scott Sinclair secured the three points for the visitors.

The U's supporters witnessed their home encounter against Morecambe postponed last weekend after adverse weather conditions caused damage to parts of Abbey Stadium.

However, with a week's rest under their belt, Cambridge will travel to face Shrewsbury fresh in the hope of an improved performance come 3pm on Saturday afternoon.

Team News

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In the wake of their victory over Burton Albion, Shrewsbury Town manager Steve Cotterill is not expected to make any changes to his starting XI.

After netting a brace against Burton, on-loan Bournemouth striker Christian Saydee will again lead the Salop line alongside fellow loanee Rob Street.

Do not be surprised to see a familiar-looking defensive set-up from Cotterill, with Matthew Pennington, Chey Dunkley and Tom Flanagan already inked into the hosts' team sheet.

With the joint-second lowest number of goals throughout the current League One campaign, Cambridge United will rely on Sam Smith, Harvey Knibbs, Shilow Tracey and James Brophy to spearhead The U's attack at Montgomery Waters Meadow.

At the other end of the pitch, Mark Bonner could freshen up his defensive ranks by handing Liam Bennett a recall to the side after witnessing his side concede 10 goals in their last three matches.

Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:

Marosi; Pennington, Dunkley, Flanagan; Moore, Winchester, Leahy, Shiply, Phillips; Street, Saydee

Cambridge United possible starting lineup:

Mannion; Bennett, Williams, Taylor, Okendina; Worman, Digby; Brophy, Tracey, Knibbs; Smith

We say: Shrewsbury Town 2-1 Cambridge United

In pursuit of a double-digit number of victories in the current League One campaign, we can envision Shrewsbury Town's assignment coming to fruition come 5pm on Saturday evening after condemning Cambridge United into deeper relegation turmoil.

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