Marcus Braddock looks ahead to the visit of the Sadlers'
After the thrill of getting to Wembley in the CheckaTrade Trophy on Tuesday, Shrewsbury Town take on Walsall this weekend at Montgomery Waters Meadow. It hasn't been a vintage season for the Saddlers, wins have been well spaced but there have been a few unbeaten runs that have kept them relatively buoyant in the league. They currently sit in 13th position with 44 points although they've played more games than the teams around them so points will be very much on their minds. However, despite their form, the Saddlers are more than capable of winning anywhere as they showed us in the CheckaTrade Trophy in November. They also showed their potential when they beat Southend away last Saturday with an impressive hat trick from Erhun Oztumer. So another difficult game at home for us but with Tuesdays home win behind us there's no reason for apprehension.
Top Scorers
Erhun Otzumer 14
Joe Edwards 7
Tyler Roberts 5 (now with Leeds)
Amadou Bakayoko 5
Assists
Luke Leahy 9
Erhun Otzumer 4
Joe Edwards 3
Clean Sheets
3 at home and 3 away.
Stats (based on away games)
Walsall have won an average of 0.94 points this season.
They've scored an average of 1.17 goals and conceded 1.56.
Top goalscorer Erhun Otzumer has scored 9 of his 15 goals in away games.
Walsall have conceded 16 goals in the first half and 12 in the second half of away games.
They've scored 8 in the first half of games and 13 in the second half.
Referee
Stephen Martin from Staffordshire. Games this season: 32. Yellow cards: 74. Red cards: 2.
Team News
Junior Brown is still a long way off, James Bolton won’t feature but should return to training next week.
Summary
This is a deceptive fixture really, Walsall haven't had the best form but they've beaten some good teams quite convincingly. In Errrhun Otzumer they have genuine quality but there is a little more to Walsall than one player. As the assists and goals scored suggest, Joe Edwards and Luke Leahy have a big part to play when the Saddlers win. But Walsall haven't won enough this season and we've had great home form for the most part so a positive result for Town is more likely. But having beaten Southend and Scunthorpe away this season, an away win is certainly a possibility that needs to be guarded against.
COYB!!!