National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Shrewsbury Town or Port Vale that keep their silverware dream alive.
It’s busy days for these teams as both were in action only a few days ago. There’s no rest for the wicked, or in this case; no rest for Shrewsbury Town and Port Vale.
Shrewsbury Town form and stats
Last season their EFL Trophy adventure ended in the group stage.The story so far in the League One for Shrewsbury Town at their home stadium (Montgomery Waters Meadow) is 1 win, 1 draw and 2 defeats.
Shrewsbury Town lost their last game at Port Vale after a 1-2 scoreline. The defeat against Port Vale was especially painful as the deciding goal against was scored one minutes into stoppage time (by Harrison). The forward Saydee was declared "man of the match" for Shrewsbury with the rating of 7.31/10. Saydee scored one goal and dribled past the opponent 1 of 1 times.
Before that game, the 3-2 home victory against Exeter City.This is expected to be a close game, with Shrewsbury Town perhaps considered small favourites due to their home advantage. Looking back at earlier matches similar to this one (expected to be close with Shrewsbury Town as a small favourite), we find 13 games. Shrewsbury Town has won 5 of these, drawn 3 and lost 5.
Some members of the home team might already be thinking of their next match, the League One game versus Burton Albion in only four days. This game is also played here at Montgomery Waters Meadow.
The goals haven't exactly been flowing for Shrewsbury Town here at Montgomery Waters Meadow in the league, with less than one goal per game on average (3 from 4 games). With more than 1,5 conceded goals on average, the Shrewsbury defense is not exactly impregnable. 6 goals conceded from 4 games. You can find more goal stats on the Statistics tab above.
Port Vale form and stats
They also participated in EFL Trophy last season. This ended in the 2nd round.1-1-2 is the win-draw-loss statistic for Port Vale in their League One matches away.
Impressive finishing from Harrison (2) secured the home win 2-1 against Shrewsbury Town in their previous game. Late drama in the previous game, when Harrison scored the winning goal one minutes into stoppage time to defeat Shrewsbury Town. Harrison, attacking player, was the top performer on the team in that game, scoring a match rating of 8.2. Harrison scored two goals.
A 1-1 draw at Barnsley's stadium before that.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Port Vale playing away and similar expectations, we found 11 relevant matches. Results were 4 Port Vale wins, 2 draws and 5 defeats.
Port Vale have another fixture that requires travelling in just four sleeps, a League One match vs Peterborough United. A rough timetable for them!
Defensive performances away have varied in quality as Port have conceded 7 goals on the road. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above.
Head 2 Head
Last ten meetings with these squads: Shrewsbury Town won two, Port Vale were winners in four and we saw four draws. five games with over 2,5 goals, five matches with under 2,5 goals.
Top Goalscorers
  E. Harrison 5 goals |   M. Pennington 2 goals | L. Leahy 1 goals |
Shrewsbury Town missing players
Port Vale missing players
| Shrewsbury Town | Port Vale | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 15 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Won | W | 7 | 13 | ||
| 7 | 4 | Drew | D | 1 | 3 | ||
| 11 | 7 | Lost | L | 5 | 9 | ||
| 30 | 19 | Scored | S | 16 | 32 | ||
| 34 | 23 | Conceded | C | 17 | 31 | ||
| 84% | 87% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 100% | 96% | ||
| 72% | 67% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 77% | 72% | ||
| 52% | 60% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 54% | 56% | ||
| 24% | 33% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 15% | 20% | ||
| 20% | 27% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 8% | ||
| 44% | 47% | BTTS | BTTS | 38% | 48% | ||
| 32% | 27% | Clean Sheets | C S | 38% | 36% | ||
| 40% | 40% | Failed to Score | F T | 23% | 20% | ||
| 4.7 | 4.9 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 4.8 | 4.8 | ||
| 5.5 | 5.7 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.8 | 5.5 | ||
| 1.6 | 1.5 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1 | 1.4 | ||
| 1 | 1 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 10.8 | 11 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 10.8 | 11.1 | ||
| 3.6 | 4 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 2.9 | 3 | ||
| 33% | 32% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 46% | 45% | ||
| 11.6 | 11.1 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 11.1 | 11 | ||
| 3.7 | 3.3 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 3.5 | 3.2 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Wolves U21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Port Vale | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 | Shrewsbury Town | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| 4 | Stockport County | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Ipswich Town | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 12 | 21 |
| 2 | Portsmouth | 9 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 21 |
| 3 | Plymouth Argyle | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 5 | 19 |
| 4 | Sheffield Wednesday | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 17 |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 9 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 17 |
| 6 | Barnsley | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 14 |
| 7 | Derby County | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 |
| 8 | Lincoln City | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 14 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 0 | 13 |
| 9 | Cambridge United | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | -3 | 13 |
| 10 | Peterborough United | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 4 | 12 |
| 11 | Fleetwood Town | 9 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 12 |
| 12 | Shrewsbury Town | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 4 | -1 | 12 |
| 13 | Port Vale | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | -2 | 12 |
| 14 | Charlton Athletic | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 2 | 11 |
| 15 | Exeter City | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 11 |
| 16 | Wycombe Wanderers | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 11 |
| 17 | Accrington Stanley | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -2 | 10 |
| 18 | Milton Keynes Dons | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 6 | -2 | 10 |
| 19 | Oxford United | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 10 |
| 20 | Cheltenham Town | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -4 | 8 |
| 21 | Bristol Rovers | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 19 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -6 | 8 |
| 22 | Forest Green Rovers | 9 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | -10 | 8 |
| 23 | Morecambe | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -10 | 7 |
| 24 | Burton Albion | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 13 | -12 | 4 |
