League One side Shrewsbury Town will be aiming to cause an upset when they host Sunderland in the FA Cup third round on Saturday.
The visitors, meanwhile, will be looking to emulate the famous Sunderland team from 1973, who won the FA Cup despite only competing in the second tier of English football.
Match preview
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The furthest that Shrewsbury have ever progressed in England's most famous cup competition was the quarter-finals on two occasions, when they lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1978-79 season, before being edged out by Leicester City at the same stage three years later.
Salop have been unfortunate to be drawn against Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in two of the last three campaigns, earning a replay against them with a famous 2-2 draw at Montgomery Waters Meadow in 2020, before losing 4-1 to the eventual champions last year.
Indeed, they have been defeated by Premier League opposition in each of the last five seasons of the FA Cup, suggesting that they have every chance of defeating a Sunderland side who they held to a 1-1 draw less than 18 months ago in League One.
However, after suffering three successive defeats in the third tier in recent weeks, head coach Steve Cotterill may not be too concerned with mounting a cup run this time around, with his side's league position undoubtedly more important in terms of keeping his job and maintaining the club's financial security.
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Likewise, after finally ending their four-year stay in League One by beating Wycombe Wanderers 2-0 in the playoff final in May, Sunderland fans are dreaming of back-to-back promotions having moved up to eighth in the Championship after 26 matches.
Despite losing their manager Alex Neil to Stoke City in late August, the Mackems have made excellent progress under Tony Mowbray, who was a free agent after being relieved from his position at Blackburn Rovers during the summer.
While the former Middlesbrough and Ipswich Town defender will be keen on further cementing his early strong work in charge by guiding his side through to the next stage of the FA Cup, pushing for a playoff spot will undoubtedly take priority for him.
Indeed, given that Sunderland have tasted FA Cup success twice in their history as well as reaching a League Cup final as recently as 2014 before winning the play-offs at Wembley in May, their fans would almost certainly agree with their manager.
Team News
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After being shown a straight red card in their defeat to Fleetwood Town last weekend, Matthew Pennington will be suspended for the weekend's cup clash, while Carl Winchester is ineligible to face his parent club.
Cotterill may turn to Taylor Moore as Pennington's replacement in central defence, with Julien da Costa potentially utilised at right wing-back, and Elliott Bennett coming into the midfield.
Sunderland, meanwhile, will travel without Dennis Cirkin, Aji Alese and Elliot Embleton due to injury, while Danny Batth and Lynden Gooch are both doubtful due to muscle strains.
The likes of Jay Matete and Niall Huggins have struggled for game time in the league this season and could be called upon on Saturday.
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Burgoyne; Moore, Dunkley, Flanagan; Da Costa, Bennett, Leahy, Shipley; Bayliss; Bloxham, Pyke
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Bass; Ballard, Wright, O'Nien; Huggins, Matete, Ba, Evans, Bennette; Dajaku, Diallo
We say: Shrewsbury Town 1-2 Sunderland
Despite the visitors being likely to make plenty of changes for their cup tie, we expect Sunderland to have too much strength-in-depth for Shrewsbury, who have seen their form significantly dip in recent outings.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Brett Curtis
