Football – England – League Two
Saturday 20th September 2014 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
Shrewsbury Town entertain another bottom half club at their Greenhous Stadium on Saturday afternoon when they welcome Newport County, and they’ll be looking to rack up a fifth consecutive home win in the process.
The Shrews have been absolutely dominant in their opening four matches on home turf with wins over Tranmere Rovers, Accrington Stanley, Luton Town and Tuesday night’s win over Carlisle United. However, they will be mindful that they need to win as many home games as possible given their poor start away from home so far.
Shrewsbury have yet to win on their travels, but with an overall home record of 4-0-0 9/1, this has carried them into a top six place for now. Once again, the attacking trio of Collins, Clarke and Mangan will more than likely cause a few headaches for the Newport County defence this afternoon.
Onto the visitors then, and Newport County finished last season a very respectable mid-table in their return to the football league. Their plan this season will perhaps be a top half finish but as long as they avoid any relegation worries, another season of consolidation looks to be on the cards for The Exiles.
After an alarming start to this new campaign where they lost their first three matches on the trot with losses against Wycombe Wanderers, Morecambe and Mansfield Town, Justin Edinburgh’s boys have got into a groove and have gone unbeaten in their last five.
Wins over Portsmouth and Northampton Town were great results, along with draws against Burton Albion, Cambridge United and Tranmere Rovers, and County will face another tough test this afternoon against one of the form teams at home this afternoon.
Shrewsbury Town have been in great form at home and this will be an interesting test for both sides. As Newport have beaten both Portsmouth and Northampton, I’ll give the quarter ball in favour of The Shrews instead of just the straight win as there is a possibility of a draw – can Shrewsbury record a fifth home win on the trot? Perhaps a 1-0 home win is on the cards.
Pick: Shrewsbury Town AH-0.25 @ 1.72 Bet Victor
