Last year Manchester United got knocked out of the FA Cup vs Arsenal in the quarter-finals losing 2-1 at Old Trafford in what was a disappointing exit for the club with the Gunners going on to win the Cup for the 2nd year in a row.

The two three big downers going into this tie against the League One strugglers is that firstly United are coming in on the back of the 2-1 defeat to FC Midtjylland in Denmark which was particularly disappointing considering the Danish side were on a terrible run of form of 1 win in 11 games and had not played in over 2 months. Secondly, the club are also without captain Wayne Rooney who had just come into some kind of form scoring a number of goals in recent games. Rooney has scored in all of United’s previous four FA cup games so he clearly wil be sorely missed even though half of those have been notched from the penalty spot. This again puts into question why LVG went into the season with such a small strikeforce and we still wonder why Chicharito was let go – sorry to keep banging on about it!! Thirdly, United are still carrying an unbelievable amount of injuries which has recently been reported as 13 bodies but hopefully it will be reduced at least by a few for Monday night.

The good news for the Reds is that they have not lost against lower league teams since they lost to Leeds in January 2010 which equates to just once in their last 45 FA Cup games against lower-league opposition. Therefore they have enjoyed winning 37 games and drawing 7 times with that solitary loss, so they have be to be favourites despite their form and the Shrews playing at home.

Shrewsbury have a pretty decent record in the FA Cup against Premier League or old First Division teams having won five and lost 14 of their 23 matches with 4 draws. The last time there was a shock result from the Shrews, Shrewsbury surprised Everton at home way back 13 years ago in 2003 when they came back to win 2-1 in a Round 3 tie so they are capable of an upset.

A relatively good omen for United is that they have averaged 2.4 goals per game in their last eight games against third-tier opposition in the FA Cup scoring a total of 19 goals. Another good sign for Manchester United is that they have won the last six FA Cup fifth round ties that they have played.

The good omens for Shrewsbury are that they have won all of their previous three FA Cup games and the Shrews have managed to keep 5 clean sheets in their last 7 FA Cup games (W5 D1 L1). Interestingly all 6 of Shrewsbury’s FA Cup goals this season have come in the second half of their games.

Weighing it all up, we are predicting a 3-1 United win.

Projected Starting Line-up:

Romero; Love, Borthwick-Jackson, Smalling, Blind; Carrick, Schneiderlin; Memphis, Mata, Martial; Lingard.

With the 1/4 final draw having happened on Sunday after the Chelsea vs Man City game, United now know that if they can beat Shrewsbury their reward will be a home tie against West Ham United.