League One playoff chasers Oxford United will be tasked with a home clash against Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday, as they look to bounce back from a defeat at the weekend.
Their visitors find themselves at the opposite end of the table, but they did manage to secure an important victory last time out to move level on points with 20th-placed Gillingham.
Match preview
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After missing out in the playoff semi-finals last season, Oxford United will have headed into the new campaign with the hopes of completing the job and earning promotion to the Championship, and they had a relatively mixed start.
Having sat on 12 points after nine league games, Karl Robinson's side posted back-to-back wins, firstly thrashing Accrington Stanley 5-1 before James Henry hit a dramatic 93rd-minute winner to see them pick up a 2-1 away victory over promotion-chasing Sheffield Wednesday.
The U's were unable to make it three consecutive wins on Saturday though, as they faced the tough test of a meeting with league leaders Plymouth Argyle.
Matty Taylor put Robinson's men ahead inside the first five minutes, but Jordon Garrick quickly drew the visitors level before a Panutche Camara brace saw the Pilgrims leave with all three points.
Now sitting a point behind the playoff places, Oxford will hope to return to winning ways sooner rather than later, with Saturday potentially presenting a good opportunity against a side who have struggled somewhat so far this campaign.
Shrewsbury were immediately in a difficult position as they collected just three points from their opening six games, before settling with consecutive draws against Crewe Alexandra and Sheffield Wednesday.
Steve Cotterill's men then posted an important 2-1 victory over fellow strugglers AFC Wimbledon, but would go on to embark on a three-game losing run in England's third tier.
The Shrews fell to 2-1 defeats at the hands of Wycombe Wanderers, Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town to sink straight back into the relegation zone, but they bounced back in style on Saturday.
Cotterill's side hosted sixth-placed Milton Keynes Dons, and Shaun Whalley's 56th-minute strike proved the difference in a crucial 1-0 win, seeing them move level on points with Gillingham outside of the drop zone.
The Shrews will now be keen to build on that result and put another victory on the board to climb out of the bottom four.
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Team News
Karl Robinson does not have many injury issues to deal with, and he should not panic and make wholesale changes after a rare defeat last time out.
Matty Taylor will continue to lead the line, having netted three goals and provided an assist in his 11 league appearances so far this season.
He should again be flanked by Nathan Holland and James Henry, while Elliott Moore and Jordan Thorniley will continue to partner up in defence.
Shrewsbury are expected to deploy an unchanged starting XI after Saturday's impressive win.
Matthew Pennington, Ethan Ebanks-Landell and George Nurse, along with goalkeeper Marko Marosi, stood strong to keep a clean sheet, and the back line should remain untouched as a result.
Experienced attacker Shaun Whalley continues to be a crucial man going forward, having hit his first league goal of the campaign in the victory last time out after netting eight goals and providing seven assists in the third tier last term.
Oxford United possible starting lineup:
Stevens; Long, Thorniley, Moore, Seddon; Kane, Brannagan; Holland, Whyte, Henry; Taylor
Shrewsbury Town possible starting lineup:
Marosi; Pennington, Ebanks-Landell, Nurse; Bennett, Leahy, Davis, Ogbeta; Whalley; Udoh, Cosgrove
We say: Oxford United 2-1 Shrewsbury Town
Despite the differing results at the weekend, we still back Oxford to use their quality to get over the line on home turf.
Shrewsbury were well worthy of their eye-catching win on Saturday, but we see them being broken down away from home on Saturday and predict a narrow win for Robinson's side.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Oxford United win with a probability of 61.79%. A draw had a probability of 22.3% and a win for Shrewsbury Town had a probability of 15.92%.
The most likely scoreline for a Oxford United win was 1-0 with a probability of 13.13%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (12.03%) and 2-1 (9.67%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.54%), while for a Shrewsbury Town win it was 0-1 (5.75%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 12% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Oxford United would win this match.
