Sheffield Wednesday and Morecambe will get the FA Cup first round underway on Friday, when they square off at Hillsborough.

The two sides have already met in league action this season, with Friday's hosts scoring a 3-0 away victory in League One in September.

Match preview

Sheffield Wednesday will be hoping for a positive FA Cup run this season after a disappointing first-round exit last time around, having lost 3-0 in their replay away at Plymouth Argyle following a 0-0 draw on home turf.

They have certainly started in more pleasing fashion on the whole than they did last season, though, with the Owls establishing a bid for promotion with 34 points from their opening 17 matches in League One.

One of their 10 third-tier victories thus far came away at Friday's opponents last month, as Josh Windass, George Byers and Michael Smith all got on the scoresheet in the final 20 minutes of a 3-0 triumph.

Following a narrow loss away at Plymouth at the beginning of October, the Owls now come into their cup tie in a six-game unbeaten run which has seen them move back within two points of the top two, most recently bouncing back from consecutive draws with a 4-2 win over Burton Albion last weekend courtesy of goals from Barry Bannan, Smith, Mallik Wilks and Fisayo Dele-Bashiru.

Darren Moore's side will now turn their attention to the domestic cup and look to put up another victory over Morecambe to book their place in the second round.

The visitors, meanwhile, make the trip having not enjoyed a strong start to the League One season, with the Shrimps sitting 22nd with 13 points from 17 outings.

They will, however, be vying to reach the FA Cup second round for the third consecutive time, having beaten Maldon & Tiptree and Newport County at this stage in the previous two seasons, with the 2020-21 term producing a trip to the third round and a landmark clash with Chelsea.

Derek Adams's side make the trip to Hillsborough on the back of arguably their most pleasing run of the league campaign thus far, having at least managed five points from four games in a tough run of fixtures, firstly beating Barnsley 1-0 before losing by the same scoreline away at Cheltenham Town.

After sharing the points away at Wycombe Wanderers in the following encounter, Morecambe most recently took on Derby County on Tuesday and played out a second straight 1-1 draw to take a creditable point, with Jensen Weir's opener on the stroke of half time cancelled out by a Louie Sibley equaliser on the hour mark.

While they still have plenty of work to do to improve their chances of surviving the drop in England's third tier this season, Adams's side will now turn their focus elsewhere this weekend and look to build momentum with a cup triumph on South Yorkshire.

Team News

A break from league action could give Darren Moore the chance to rotate his strong Sheffield Wednesday squad, with Cameron Dawson expected to get an opportunity to start in goal while Nottingham Forest loanee Alex Mighten could come into an advanced role.

With an abundance of quality up front, several key men may be rested, with Callum Paterson likely to lead the line alongside Mallik Wilks, who will look to build more positive form after netting his first league goal for the Owls last time out following a summer switch from Hull City.

Captain Barry Bannan is also likely to sit out with a trip to Southampton in the EFL Cup looming, meaning Tyreeq Bakinson could play alongside Fisayo Dele-Bashiru and Will Vaulks in the engine room, while Dominic Iorfa and Mark McGuinness should again partner up in defence in the absence of the likes of Ben Heneghan, who will miss a large portion of the season through injury.

After leading their scoring charts with 23 League One goals last season, Morecambe striker Cole Stockton is yet to score in 15 appearances this term, and Friday's game should see him come back in from the outset and attempt to rediscover his shooting boots.

It is Jensen Weir who has notched up the most goals for the Shrimps so far with five in 19 games, and he will continue to play an important role in midfield with Kieran Phillips also set to keep his place in the front line.

Weir should be joined in the engine room by Celtic loanee Liam Shaw, who is set to return to Hillsborough after leaving Sheffield Wednesday for the Scottish giants in 2021, while Anthony O'Connor, Jacob Bedeau and Ryan Delaney could again form a back three.

Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Hunt, Iorfa, McGuinness, Johnson; Bakinson, Vaulks, Dele-Bashiru; Wilks, Paterson, Mighten

Morecambe possible starting lineup:
Ripley; O'Connor, Bedeau, Delaney; Cooney, Weir, Shaw, Gibson; Watts; Phillips, Stockton

We say: Sheffield Wednesday 3-1 Morecambe

Even with the Owls likely to rotate their squad, we cannot envisage any result other than a dominant home triumph on Friday with Moore having more than enough talent at his disposal to see them through to the second round.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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