Shrewsbury will look to close the gap on the Sky Bet League One's top two when they face Bradford on Thursday and Tom Carnduff has a 4/1 best bet.
Bradford v Shrewsbury recommended bets
2pts Shaun Whalley to score anytime at 4/1
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Bradford City v Shrewsbury Town (1945 BST, Sky Sports Main Event)
Shrewsbury Town travel to face Bradford City on Thursday night looking to capitalise on Blackburn Rovers dropping points at Gillingham earlier this week.
Tony Mowbray's Rovers were held to a 0-0 draw by mid-table Gills on Tuesday, leaving the gap between Town and second-place at five points with a game in-hand for the Shropshire outfit.
Bradford find themselves on a miserable run of form that sees them with just one win since New Year's Day. That run has seen them pick up just five points from a possible 39.
For Shrewsbury, they endured a tough week-and-a-half as they were defeated by Rochdale before a loss to Lincoln City in the Checkatrade Trophy final on Sunday.
Prior to those games, they had enjoyed a six-game unbeaten run away from home, picking up 16 points from 18 available. They also find themselves as the third best away team in the division, giving them plenty of confidence against a Bradford side who are 22nd in the home standings.
In 18 games at Valley Parade, City have won just seven games and a managerial change in appointing Simon Grayson has barely boosted their home performances.
The season is over for the Bantams as they sit nine points adrift of the play-off places, despite looking like automatic promotion contenders for large parts in the first-half of the season.
Salop find themselves as 5/4 favourites to secure victory on Thursday night, which seems good value given the contrasting forms of both sides. Bradford are the outsiders at 13/5 with the draw available at 12/5.
Opta facts
- The Bantams are unbeaten in their last four home league matches against Shrewsbury (W3 D1) since a 2-1 defeat in March 2011 in League Two.
- Shrewsbury haven’t lost back to back league games against Bradford since March 1989.
- Simon Grayson’s four matches against Shrewsbury in all competitions have all been victories, winning two league games in 2013/14 and Football League Trophy and FA Cup games in 2014/15.
- Charlie Wyke has scored 13 goals in League One this term, however only two of those have come in 2018 (10 appearances).
- Shrewsbury’s Shaun Whalley has assisted 11 league goals in 2017/18, at least five more than any of his teammates.
Shrewsbury to win and over 1.5 goals in the match appears tempting at 19/10.
Whilst Town have seen 25 of their 40 games with under three goals, they did go on a run of scoring two goals in their away games between February into March, showing that they are capable of finding the net on the road.
I'd be looking towards Shaun Whalley to strike once again when it comes to goalscorers. The winger is enjoying a terrific season and his brace in the 3-2 victory over Oxford moved him to top of the goal-scoring charts for Paul Hurst's men.
He's available at 4/1 to strike anytime, which seems a big price given the impact he has made for Town so far this season.
Score prediction: Bradford 0-2 Shrewsbury (Sky Bet odds: 17/2)
Best bet: Shaun Whalley to score anytime at 4/1
Alternative bet: Shrewsbury to win and over 1.5 goals at 19/10
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Odds correct as of 1545 BST 11/04/2018
