Pre-Match Thread Shrewsbury vs. Southend

[fredheim_holm]

Big game this one, and a big 5 games coming up. I'd take the following results:

Shrewsbury v Southend - D
Southend v Swindon - D
Plymouth v Southend - W
Southend v Rotherham - W
Gillingham v Southend - D

Make no doubt about it, we're far from promoted from this league. A strong finish will be required, with lots of hard games coming up, but I believe we'll do it.

Shrewsbury are unbeaten since March at home, and have won 9 drawn 3, their solid defence is the key to their success, scoring an average of 1.67 goals per game (9th highest in the league) and conceding an average of 0.5 per game (best in the league). Our away record has us with 2.42 goals per game (by far the best in the league) and conceding 1.42 (9th best). Those stats alone mean this game should be a tightly contested affair. Who will win out? Will it be low scoring (as per Shrews at home) or high scoring, as per us away? We'll see.

What line up are we going to go for?

For me it'll be:

Morris

Clohessy Phillips Barker Gilbert

Hall Kalala Timlin Martin

Sampson Dickinson

subs: Ferdinand, Grant, Bilel, Benyon, Harris.​

Would love to be there for this one, but I don't think I've got an (affordable) way to get there.

 

[Smiffy]

Yep, I'll go with that line up Fred.

 

[tottenham541]

i would take a draw right now at shrewsbury, but i fear we could come home with nothing as they are on fire at the moment and there lad wright always has a good game against us.

 

[turkishm]

Not imo a high scoring game, so im going for a 1 0 win Dickinson with a pen, i think.

 

[canveyshrimper]

We're gonna get spanked......:sad:

 

[Jam_Man]

i would take a draw right now at shrewsbury, but i fear we could come home with nothing as they are on fire at the moment and there lad wright always has a good game against us.

If on fire, you mean mediocre then yep agree with you! We are in better form than they are.

Shrewsbury LWDLDW
Southend LLWDWW

They couldnt even beat Northampton.

They were doing well up until the end of November (when they did beat Northampton 7-2!) but not since then. They do have a great home record though.

 

[BaileytheQuitter]

0-2 Shrewsbury. Thus far we haven't really performed well against the better teams. Their home record is impressive and think we will come unstuck sadly.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Second half at Northampton we clicked. 2-0 to the blues, well, voltage cherries.

 

[tottenham541]

If on fire, you mean mediocre then yep agree with you! We are in better form than they are.

Shrewsbury LWDLDW
Southend LLWDWW

They couldnt even beat Northampton.

They were doing well up until the end of November (when they did beat Northampton 7-2!) but not since then. They do have a great home record though.

and northampton should of wiped the floor with us when we played them at home.

 

[jimmyshrimp]

We'll smash em. 1-1 H/T 3-1 F/T.

Dickinson Hall Bilel.

Still top of the league!

 

[yogi bear up the cagire]

Simples!...............this game is a battle between defences and attacks. If the attacks win it we'll get a result, if the defences come out on top we're likely to get bugger all!

 

[tommy tucker]

Iwould take a draw all day long .Someone will beat Shewsbury at home before the end of the season so why not us .But I will stick to a draw .

 

[Hawkwell Blue]

and northampton should of wiped the floor with us when we played them at home.

Are you serious?

 

[Clinton Baptiste]

I wouldnt be suicidal if we lost, probably our toughest away game we have left so a point or three would be a bonus. Saying that we completely destroyed them at home so I would be confident of getting a result.

 

[chapperzUK]

If on fire, you mean mediocre then yep agree with you! We are in better form than they are.

Shrewsbury LWDLDW
Southend LLWDWW

They couldnt even beat Northampton.

They were doing well up until the end of November (when they did beat Northampton 7-2!) but not since then. They do have a great home record though.

Looking at that form, we do look like we have the edge, but look at the more relevant form :

Shrewsbury home WWWDW
Southend away WLLWW

We have the best away form in the league (W 9, D 0, L 3, GF 29, GA 17, GD +12)
They are unbeaten in the league at home (W 9, D 3, L 0, GF 20, GA 6, GD +14)

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

I dont think any fan would be disappointed with a draw, a win would be superb, and a defeat would'nt be the end of the world.

 

[Jam_Man]

and northampton should of wiped the floor with us when we played them at home.

When we had 11 shots on target compared to their 6 ?

 

[southchurch]

Iwould take a draw all day long .Someone will beat Shewsbury at home before the end of the season so why not us .But I will stick to a draw .

I am thinking this too. They are building up pressure at home because of that stat of having not been beaten. I would be amazed if they take that forward for much longer and feel we could be the ones to end it. We all know how Cluniemore loves his stats and if he ends this one he will be happy to quote it back to us (so called moaners) at a future date.
Southend defence was very shaky V Northampton ( especially first half) and so I can see some goals here Shrews 2 Southend 3

 

[tottenham541]

When we had 11 shots on target compared to their 6 ?

yeh we were crap that day and after the second half that we had we were pretty lucky, their chances were better than ours.

 

[Rusty Bucket Shrew]

Hello to all Shrimpers !

Good luck for the rest of the season (after Saturday of course). Achieving promotion, hopefully not at the expense of us, would be a massive achievement considering what you've had to deal with in recent years. I also spent a bit of time in Southend back in the '80's, so i've always had one eye on how you're doing. The Rusty Bucket, The Dickens, TOTS and The Papillon on the seafront I remember them well !

As for Saturday, I reckon it'll be very close. We are excellent at home, the unbeaten record speaks for itself and there are only five teams in the whole league still unbeaten at home in the league (Man City, Liverpool, Birmingham, Charlton and us). Our current form problems however are due to not being clinical enough in front of goal and unless that improves we will surely have some difficulty against you as your goal scoring at the moment is superb (12 in the last three away, can't be ignored). That said, we are still creating the chances and my view is that we have too much ability up front for the lack of goals to continue, whether it comes against you is another matter. Defensively at home we are very sound, especially now that captain Sharps seems to be approaching his best form after problems earlier in the season.

You seem to have a problem away against the better sides, losing all three you have played against teams in the current top nine. I'm not sure quite what that signifies, possibly a difficulty in breaking teams down that are more organised than others lower down in the division.

All considered, I think it all points to either a 0-0 or 1-1 result

Pity about the Rusty Bucket, I now believe it's a McDonalds drive-thru. What a shame.