West Ham v Shrewsbury Betting Preview – FA Cup 16th January 7.45pm
Shrewsbury were always going to be in with a good chance of pulling off an FA Cup upset in this tie and they were not overawed by their Premier League opponents in the first game at the New Meadow. But did they miss their chance as they now have to head out on the road to face the Hammers? The Hammers had to sweat a bit in that away match but they should be a little more comfortable and organised and probably lining up stronger back on home soil as well.
West Ham v Shrewsbury FA Cup Betting Tips
The Hammers had a big positive on the weekend as they smashed Huddersfield in the Premier League to ease relegation worries. They have to squeeze in this extra game against League One side Shrewsbury in the FA Cup after playing out a 0-0 draw at the first attempt. It has not been red hot form from West Ham lately, but they are getting more resilient under David Moyes which was fully expected. They have put together a five-match unbeaten streak of form now in all competitions, but they have actually only posted the two wins in their last seven games. There is every reason to expect this to be another tight scrap between the two of them, still it is worth having a look over 2.5 goals at Coral as the first attempt should have produced goals and West Ham may go stronger in their line up for this one. The Hammers have collected just the two wins in their last seven home fixtures across all competitions, and both wins in that sequence were by a one-goal margin. The Irons have only two clean sheets in their last seven at home and with Shrewsbury having nothing to lose, this could end up being a really exciting replay.
There have been only the five previous games between the two clubs, and aside from the draw which set up this really, the other four were in Division 2 in the 1979/80 and 80/81 seasons. From that, they both won two games each so everything is even in the head to head between them.
The Shrews have really had a good season as they are pushing for promotion to the championship. They slipped up in a league loss on the weekend, as they went down against Blackburn at Ewood Park, the side directly beneath them in third. They probably had one eye on this FA Cup replay. That loss snapped a ten-match undefeated streak of form that the Shrews were on, and during that run, they bagged themselves seven clean sheets. All season they have been superb at the back. Their away form isn’t as strong as that of their home form, as the League One side have gone W3 D4 L3 in their last ten road games, winning just one of their last four. This is a difficult time now as they go away to face a Premier League side, but they are a side which has confidence in them and can compete even if they come up short. In the Coral correct score market a West Ham 2-1 scoreline returns a price of 7/1 which backs the Shrews making them sweat, but ultimately just coming up short* (Betting Odds taken from January 15th, 2018 at 00.33 a.m.). Whoever wins this goes through to face either Bournemouth or Wigan.
West Ham v Shrewsbury FA Cup Betting Odds*
West Ham 1/2, Draw 16/5, Shrewsbury 6/1* (Betting Odds taken from January 13th, 2018 at 1:06 a.m.)
West Ham v Shrewsbury FA Cup Predictions
The Hammers are likely to win out at the end of the day even though they could have another battle and may have to show a bit of patience. Usually, in situations like this, the lower ranked side have missed their chance of an upset at the first attempt. Home win but look over 2.5 goals.
