Preview: Grimsby Town vs Shrewsbury Town - prediction, team news, lineups

In what is an all-League Two affair, Grimsby Town will face off against Shrewsbury Town in their EFL Cup opening round fixture at Blundell Park on Tuesday.

The Mariners are unbeaten, with a win and one draw in their opening fixtures, while the visitors are winless in their last two fixtures so far.

Match preview

Grimsby Town will be looking to build on their impressive start to the 2025-26 league season, which leaves them fifth in the League Two table with four points, three adrift of the top spot.

David Artell’s team recorded a 3-0 win against Crawley Town on the opening day of the season, and they followed that up with a thrilling 3-3 draw at Harrogate Town.

The Mariners were 3-1 down with 14 minutes of regulation time to play, but goals from Harvey Rodgers six minutes from time and Jaze Kabia in added time restored parity last weekend.

Such is the confidence of the home side, a fact which is accentuated by their unbeaten run in six games across all competitions - a run which includes five triumphs and a draw.

That said, they only managed to keep two clean sheets during that time, a situation Artell may not be pleased about.

The home side have not enjoyed much success in this competition, as they have vacillated between the first and the third round in the last decade.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury are yet to shake off the unimpressive run which culminated in their relegation from League One last term.

Their start to the new season is nothing to write home about, having lost one and earned a draw in their first two games of the campaign.

Last time out, the Shrews were dismissed 4-0 by Tranmere Rovers, an outcome that extended their winless run to four matches in all competitions.

Defensively, the visitors have been poor, having conceded in all but one of their last four outings, and they have had to pick the ball out of their net a total of 11 times during that run.

Nevertheless, fans of the Shrews would still harbour some hope for a positive result due to their away record of four wins and a loss in their last five fixtures away from their territory

Grimsby Town form (all competitions):

Shrewsbury Town form (all competitions):

Team News

Considering the performance of his team in their last league outing, Artell may decide to field the team that fought back to claim a point last weekend.

Goalkeeper Christy Pym is expected to keep his place between the sticks, and up front, Kabia is expected to spearhead the attack once again.

Shrewsbury will be under intense pressure to score their first goal of the season, and they will look to John Marquis and Anthony Scully to carry their goalscoring burden.

In defence, Michael Appleton will be forced to make at least a change at the back, following the suspension of William Boyle, who was sent off last time out.

In his absence, fellow defender Isaac England could be drafted into the back four.

Grimsby Town possible starting lineup:

Pym; Rodgers, Tharme, McJannett, Sweeney; McEachran; Burns, Green, Khouri, Vernam; Kabia

Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:

Savin, Stubbs, Anderson, England; Hoole, Biggins, Gilliead, Clucas, Nurse; Scully; Marquis

We say: Grimsby Town 2-1 Shrewsbury Town

Grimsby are in fine fettle at the moment, scoring goals and getting results. They will be oozing confidence ahead of this encounter. That said, we reckon they will edge the visitors 2-1.

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