Under-fire Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal will take his team to Greenhous Meadow to face League One side Shrewsbury Town on Monday night in what could be a make-or-break clash for the Dutchman.

The two sides will meet in a competitive match for the first time ever, with West Ham United awaiting the winners in the quarter-final.

Shrewsbury

The glare of the world's media will descend on the 9,875-capacity Greenhous Meadow on Monday night as one of the biggest clubs on the planet come to visit.

The majority of the attention will, of course, be on the visitors and, in particular, their manager, but for Shrewsbury it is a very rare taste of the high life.

Micky Mellon's side have never faced Manchester United before and have only ever reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup on two occasions - never making it further than the last eight.

That is the prize that dangles before them on Monday, though, and there will not have been many times in the history of the competition where they could have drawn United and entered the match with such high hopes of pulling off a positive result.

The Shrews may be the lowest-ranked team left in the competition, with yesterday's results seeing them slump into the League One relegation zone on goal difference, but the prospect of welcoming the 20-time champions of England is sure to create excitement around the club.

With United's current form, coupled with the Monday night atmosphere under the floodlights, it is not a match that the visitors will be relishing, and Shrewsbury will no doubt look to capitalise on that.

They already have previous of knocking higher-ranked teams out of the competition this season having beaten Championship playoff hopefuls Cardiff City and Sheffield Wednesday in the last two stages, the latter of which provided the biggest slice of drama in the fourth round.

The Owls appeared to be on their way to the last 16 when they led Shrewsbury 2-1 in the 86th minute, but an equaliser from Shaun Whalley was followed by a 97th-minute Jack Grimmer winner to set up Monday evening's showdown.

Facing United is another step up from those teams, though, and Shrewsbury have not beaten Premier League opposition since dumping Everton out in the third round of the FA Cup in 2003, while to continue their run they would need to do something that they have not managed since the 1990-91 season and win four consecutive games in this competition.

They have already won four FA Cup games in a row at Greenhous Meadow, a run that stretches back to 2009, although this competition has provided them with their only two home wins since October.

Indeed, only one team has amassed fewer home points and scored fewer home goals than Shrewsbury in League One this season, while they have also lost more games in front of their own fans than any other side.

Their overall FA Cup record against top-flight opposition stands at five wins, four draws and 14 defeats from 23 matches, and if they are to upset the odds and make that six wins then they are likely to have to bide their time - all six of their goals in this year's competition have come in the second half of games.

Chelsea were given a stern test here in the League Cup last season, though, so the hosts will hold no fear going into this match and there is certainly a glimmer of hope that they could pile yet more misery onto the ailing visitors.

Recent form: WDWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WLWLDW

Man Utd

There wouldn't have been many occasions in the history of Manchester United where a game against third-tier opposition would be labelled 'must-win', but there is that air around this fixture for Van Gaal.

The Dutchman has defied many expectations by remaining in the Old Trafford dugout for this long, but defeat to Shrewsbury would mark a new low point in an already catastrophic week for the club.

Losing 2-1 to struggling Sunderland in the Premier League was bad enough and, in the eyes of many, confirmed the Europa League as their most likely route back into the Champions League next season.

However, minnows FC Midtjylland condemned the Red Devils to an even more chastening defeat by the same scoreline on Thursday night. Having failed to progress through what was widely regarded as one of the kindest Champions League groups, they are now on the verge of crashing out of European football's secondary competition to a team who were only founded in 1999 - the same year United were winning their historic treble.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the midweek defeat was that one of the worst results in the club's recent history didn't even come as too much of a surprise, such is the way that they have been playing for a number of months now.

Since October, United have failed to win 17 of their last 25 matches in all competitions, and the past two results have caused Van Gaal's job security to drop from precarious to perilous.

Steering United to FA Cup success for the first time since 2004 would be an effective route to partial salvation, but such is the mood around the club right now that this tie will be seen as a huge potential banana skin rather than the easiest passage into the quarter-finals.

The stats certainly suggest that United should progress. They have won the last six FA Cup fifth-round ties that they have been involved in and have only lost one of their last 45 FA Cup games against lower-league opposition, winning 37 of those.

They have also scored 19 goals in their last eight matches against third-tier opposition in this competition, an average of 2.4 per game, and have not been beaten away from home in the FA Cup since 2013.

However, they have the return leg of their Europa League clash with Midtjylland on Thursday followed by a Premier League meeting with Arsenal at the weekend, while Van Gaal is also having to contend with a lengthy list of absentees.

An early goal would do wonders for the visitors at what is sure to be a pumped-up Greenhous Meadow, but an already battered and bruised United will need to be up for the fight if they are to avoid plunging to new depths.

Recent form: WW
Recent form (all competitions): LWWDLL

Team News

Manchester is commonly known as the rainy city, and right now it is pouring down on United, who could be without as many as 14 first-team players for this match.

Captain Wayne Rooney (knee) is expected to be out until April just as he was beginning to rediscover his form, and he has been joined on the sidelines by David de Gea, who picked up a knee injury during the warm-up for the midweek Europa League game.

Marouane Fellaini (muscle), Cameron Borthwick-Jackson (illness), and Matteo Darmian (shoulder) have all also picked up problems over the past week, while Donald Love, who was only brought into the squad recently due to the skeleton nature of the players available, is cup-tied.

They join the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger (MCL), Ashley Young (groin), Phil Jones (knock), Adnan Januzaj (hamstring), Guillermo Varela (knock), Antonio Valencia (foot), Marcos Rojo (shoulder) and Luke Shaw (broken leg) in a packed United treatment room.

Shrewsbury, meanwhile, have largely positive news on the injury front, with former United midfielder Larnell Cole and fourth-round hero Grimmer both expected to be available.

Defender Zak Whitbread has Premier League experience from his time with Norwich City and even played in the Champions League with Liverpool, while former Rangers midfielder Ian Black is a one-time Scotland international.

Shrewsbury possible starting lineup:
Leutwiler; Grandison, Whitbread, Knight-Percival; Grimmer, Whalley, Ogogo, Black, Brown; Mangan, Akpa Akpro

Man Utd possible starting lineup:
Romero; McNair, Poole, Smalling, Blind; Carrick, Schneiderlin, Lingard, Herrera, Depay; Martial

Head To Head

These two sides have never met in a competitive match before.

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We say: Shrewsbury 0-2 Manchester United

This is a horrible game for United. It would take a big, big win for them to regain any credit from the past two results, and the home players and fans are sure to be up for this one under the floodlights. It is easier to see a home win happening than it would have been in almost any other season, but even with their form and injury problems, United should have enough to make it through to the quarter-finals...shouldn't they?