Bristol Rovers - Shrewsbury, English League Two
2004-09-04 16.00 CET
Pick: Bristol Rovers
Stake: 3%
Odds: 1,55
Final reasons
Bristol Rovers has so far shown that they are very capable of going all the way to promotion this year. They are still unbeaten after six rounds and the squad is full of confidence. On Saturday they face newcomers Shrewsbury who have not made enough changes in the squad to be able to fight against the better teams on a consistent basis. Instead their goal must be to avoid the relegation battle. An in form and almost fully fit Bristol R should easily take all three points here. Medium stake 3% is suggested.
General comment about the game
On Saturday Bristol Rovers will take on Shrewsbury at home at the Memorial Stadium. Bristol Rovers continues to impress. As we predicted in a previous bet recommendation they won their last home game against Southend with 2-1. The hosts created the better chances during the game and were also rewarded early on. After the goal the visitors had most of the possession but failed to create any real danger until they equalised 20 minutes before full time. However, five minutes before the end Bristol Rovers scored their second goal and secured the victory. Three days after that victory, Bristol R travelled to meet Rushden & Diamonds. In that game Bristol R made an average performance and looked fatigue during spells because of the tough match schedule. The match ended goalless. Bristol R manager Ian Atkins said after the game that Rushden’s defence was the best they have played against so far this season. Bristol seems to be full of confidence and with an almost fully fit squad it looks good on Saturday. They even have some players coming back after injuries, and maybe they will change things around and freshen one or two things up for Saturday's game because of their hard spell of matches lately.
Newcomers Shrewsbury has started the new season with mixed fortunes. They started with three straight defeats but after that they have collected to straight 2-0 victories at home and in between another defeat playing on the road. This means that they have nil points and one goal scored when playing away from home so far. Shrewsbury is expected to be in the middle or just below this year and their start of the season underlines this. Shrewsbury has not made any bigger changes in their squad to this year. No important players have left the club. A few new signings have been made; striker John Grant (3(3) apps, 1 goal) from Telford, midfielder Ben Smith (6 apps, 2 goals) from Hereford and defenders Dave Walton (5 apps) from Derby and Stuart Whitehead (1(1) apps) from Telford. They have also signed a one month loan deal earlier this week with midfielder John McGrath (1 apps) from Doncaster. Last game at home against Cheltenham was a battling victory for the hosts. Shrewsbury took the lead in first half and during the end of the second half Cheltenham got the hosts under pressure and only the bar denied them an equaliser. However, two minutes from time Shrewsbury killed off the game by scoring their second goal. Shrewsbury still has midfielder Sam Aiston (3(2) apps, 0 goals) absent through injuries. He missed the last game and was replaced by new loan signing McGrath who is likely to replace once again. No other injury worries are reported.
Recent games for home team
|
2004-08-30 |
Rushden-Bristol R |
0-0 |
|
2004-08-27 |
Bristol R-Southend |
2-1 |
|
2004-08-21 |
Darlington-Bristol R |
0-1 |
|
2004-08-14 |
Bristol R-Notts County |
2-1 |
|
2004-08-10 |
Bristol R-Bury |
2-2 |
Recent games for away team
|
2004-08-31 |
Shrewsbury-Cheltenham |
2-0 |
|
2004-08-28 |
Oxford-Shrewsbury |
2-0 |
|
2004-08-21 |
Shrewsbury-Northampton |
2-0 |
|
2004-08-14 |
Cambridge-Shrewsbury |
1-0 |
|
2004-08-10 |
Macclesfield-Shrewsbury |
2-1 |
Home table
|
Bristol Rovers |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
6-4 |
7 |
Away table
|
Shrewsbury |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1-5 |
0 |
Links for this game
|
Bristol Rovers: |
|
|
Shrewsbury: |
|
|
|
|
|
Livescore: |
|
|
|
|
|
League: |
|
|
|
|
// SportsObserver 040903
