Abhranil Roy
If you want to understand the deep crisis Manchester United find themselves in, you need not look any further than the fact that when they take on struggling League One side Shrewsbury Town in the 5th round of the FA Cup, they start off as underdogs. The Red Devils have a test of character as they visit Greenhouse Meadow on Monday in what will surely be our game of the season. United’s injury list continues to grow with the addition of David de Gea.
James Wallace is ruled out for Shrewsbury.
The Blues have enjoyed their FA Cup run so far, making it from the first round to the fourth with victories over Gainsborough Trinity, Grimsby Town, Cardiff City and most recently Sheffield Wednesday. But Manchester United are the biggest side they have faced this season and a big performance will be needed.
TEAM NEWS:
Shrewsbury Town
Subs: Halstead, Burton, Clark, Grandin, Smith, Vassell, Vernon, Wellens, Demetriou, Caton, Ellis, Cole
Doubtful: None
Injured: Wallace (knee, unknown), Wesolowski (knee, unknown)
Suspended: None
Manchester Utd
Subs: JC Pereira, Rashford, Tuanzebe, Goss, Keane, Riley, Poole, Weir, Schneiderlin, Borthwick-Jackson
Doubtful: None
Injured Januzaj (hamstring), Jones (knock, both 28 Feb), Rojo (shoulder), Valencia (ankle, both 6 Mar), Rooney (knee, Apr), Shaw (leg, May), Darmian (shoulder), De Gea (knee), Fellaini (hamstring), Schweinsteiger (knee), Young (groin, all unknown)
Suspended: None
United Expected Starting XI:
De Gea, Donald Love, Chris Smalling, Blind, Borthwick Jackson, Morgan Schneiderlin, Michael Carrick, Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Memphis Depay, Anthony Martial.
Stat XI
* Shrewsbury have the second-worst home record in League One, having picked up just 11 points from 15 league games at Greenhouse Meadow.
* This will be the first-ever meeting between Shrewsbury and Manchester United. There are 56 places between the two clubs and so this will be a proper FA Cup clash.
Prediction:
Shrewsbury 1-1 Manchester United – This should be a foregone conclusion but United have been awful of late and are really struggling to pick up wins. Shrewsbury will be fired up for this clash and have had an extra week’s rest. A home win looks unlikely but the League One side could do enough to earn a replay at Old Trafford.
