Shrewsbury vs MK Dons Predictions

• Only two League 1 teams have scored less home goals than Shrewsbury this season.
• Shrewsbury and MK Dons both rank in the bottom half when it comes to touches inside the opposition box, shots on target for and shots for.
• Shrewsbury have failed to score in 44% of their League 1 matches this season. MK Dons have failed to score in 38%. They both rank in the bottom six in that respect.
• Shrewsbury have kept a clean sheet in 42% of their home matches during the current campaign.

Shrews must bounce back

Try as they might, Shrewsbury were unable to secure victory at Anfield during the week, despite going up against a young, inexperienced Liverpool side. That said, they can be pleased with their efforts. But for the tightest of margins, the Shrews would have gone in front, while it was only an unfortunate, ill-judged own goal that led to their eventual demise.

Domestically, things haven’t been going so well for Sam Ricketts’ men of late. They’ve won none of their last seven matches, four of which they’ve lost. The Shrews continue to be tough to face, they rarely get battered, but a lack of goals is holding them back. Saturday’s hosts have scored in just two of their last five. They also tend to do quite poorly when it comes to shots, even at home. Shrewsbury have taken the lowest number of home shots in the division. They average 8.92, which means that they’re the only team to average less than ten shots per game. They average just 3.00 on target, which makes them the league’s worst in that respect too.

Visitors moving forward

While Shrewsbury have floundered of late, MK Dons have taken a few steps in the right direction. They ended a three-game winless run by getting the better of Rochdale less than a fortnight ago, while they followed up by beating promotion hopefuls Wycombe last time out.

However, though they have won each of their last two, MK Dons remain a relatively weak side on the road, at least in terms of wins. Russel Martin’s men have won just one of their 13 travelling matches this season. Like Shrewsbury at home, scoring goals has often been a problem for the Dons on the road. They have notched in four of their last five on the road but have failed to score in over a third of their away matches (38%) overall. They too rank poorly in terms of shots. Only three teams have accumulated fewer travelling shots than MK Dons, who average a rather weak 3.31 shots on target away from home.

Goals to stay away

If fans are heading to New Meadow hoping to see a high-scoring game, then they’re likely to be disappointed. Given what we’ve seen from this pair, ‘Both Teams to Score – NO’ appeals. For starters, the pair have failed to score in a rather chunky 41% of their combined League 1 matches this term, while both teams have scored in just 37% of Shrewsbury’s matches, as well as in only 45% of MK Dons’. Goal averages of 0.60 and 0.86 don’t exactly point towards the goals flowing on Saturday either. The fact that the pair both rank poorly in terms of touches inside the opposition box, shots on target for and shots for fuels the selection further