Shrewsbury vs Liverpool preview | Team news | Expected line-ups | Prediction

Liverpool will be looking to avoid an upset when they take on Shrewsbury Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.

It’s fair to say that Liverpool have other priorities this season as they’re storming their way to their first Premier League title since 1990 while Jurgen Klopp will no doubt want to try and defend their Champions League trophy.

However, the FA Cup is still a great opportunity for the Reds boss to give some of his fringe players and youngsters a taste of first team action and Liverpool head into the game in formidable form.

Thursday night’s 2-1 win at Wolves extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 23 games this season – 40 overall – and they sit 16 points clear of Manchester City having dropped just two points all campaign.

League One side Shrewsbury will know they face a daunting task against the reigning European champions and they come into the match having won just one of their last seven games – which was a 1-0 replay win over Bristol in the previous round of the FA Cup.

Team news

Liverpool are expected to rotate their squad with Klopp taking the opportunity to rest several of his key men so the likes of Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Any Robertson, Jordan Henderson, Mo Salah and Roberto Firmino should be given a breather.

Sadio Mane is certain to miss the game after being ruled out with a hamstring injury that he picked up on Thursday night while James Milner remains on the sidelines with his own hamstring issue.

Xherdan Shaqiri is also still nursing a calf injury but Naby Keita could be back in the squad after recovering from a groin problem – although he’s unlikely to be risked from the start so a place on the bench is probably the best he can hope for.

Dejan Lovren is set to start after returning to full training following a thigh injury while Joel Matip and Fabinho are expected to be recalled after also returning to fitness recently. January signing Takumi Minamino should also get his second start in a Liverpool shirt.

Klopp fielded several youngsters during the win over Everton in the previous round so we could see the likes of Neco Williams, Yasser Larouci, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott all starting tomorrow.

Shrewsbury boss Sam Ricketts has a full squad to choose from while January signings Sam Hart and Josh Vela could make their full debuts.

Expected line-up

Shrewsbury XI: O’Leary; Williams, Ebanks-Landell, Pierre; Love, Norburn, Laurent, Golbourne; Whalley, Lang, Edwards

Predicted score

Shrewsbury 0-2 Liverpool: Since the Premier League began, Liverpool have beaten lower league opposition 15 times out of 17 meetings and you’d be a brave man to bet against them tomorrow. Klopp is set to field a weakened side but it’ll still be a team packed with quality and the youngsters showed against Everton they can handle themselves at the top level. I just can’t see Liverpool losing this one so I’m backing them to book their place in the next round with a 2-0 win.