Oxford United will be looking to keep in touch with League One leaders Portsmouth when they do battle with Wycombe Wanderers in a derby clash at the Kassam Stadium on Saturday.
The two teams are seeking to bounce back from two-goal defeats in midweek, with the U's losing at Wigan Athletic on the same day that the Chairboys came away empty-handed against Bolton Wanderers.
Match preview
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Following a run of four successive League One wins before the international break, Oxford have since dropped five points across two games in the space of just four days, with a 1-1 home draw with Blackpool last weekend followed by a 2-0 loss at Wigan Athletic on Tuesday.
Goals either side of half time from Stephen Humphrys and Callum Lang condemned the U's to their third league defeat of the campaign, while their five-game winning streak on the road has also come to an end.
Defeat for Liam Manning's men coincided with table-toppers Portsmouth dropping points in a stalemate with Cambridge United, meaning that Oxford remain in second place and sit four points behind the summit with a game in hand.
Oxford, who have scored the third most goals (24) and have conceded the third fewest goals (12) in the third tier, will be seeking revenge against Wycombe after losing and failing to score in both home and away meetings with the Chairboys last season, including a slender 1-0 home defeat in October last year.
December 2019 was the last time that Oxford celebrated success against Wycombe, but their early-season home form bodes well heading into Saturday's contest as they have won five of their opening seven league games at the Kassam Stadium; only Portsmouth (20) and Blackpool (17) have picked up more home points than Oxford so far this term, but the U's have played a game fewer.
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Manning is gearing up for his first-ever managerial meeting with Matt Bloomfield, another former Ipswich Town academy graduate who has seen his Wycombe side experience an inconsistent run of form in recent weeks.
Indeed, the Chairboys have won three, drawn one and lost three of their last seven League One matches, and like Oxford have dropped five points in their last two games as they followed up a 2-2 draw at Peterborough United last weekend with a 4-2 home loss to Bolton on Tuesday.
Wycombe were trailing by two goals at half time before second-half strikes from Luke Leahy and David Wheeler restored parity for the hosts, the latter of whom netted an 82nd-minute equaliser. However, the Trotters regained the lead just three minutes later through Eoin Toal before an Aaron Morley penalty secured Bolton's first-ever win at Adams Park.
Bloomfield's side have slipped to 10th place in the third-tier table, but they could climb up to sixth and into the playoffs if they beat Oxford on Saturday and other results go their way.
Wycombe have had no problems scoring goals in recent weeks as they have found the net in each of their last nine League One matches, scoring at least twice in four of their last five fixtures, and they will fancy their chances of making the net ripple once again against an Oxford side who have kept just two clean sheets in their last seven games across all competitions.
Team News
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Oxford captain and midfield lynchpin Cameron Brannagan missed the midweek defeat at Wigan due to illness, but he is expected to recover in time for Saturday's match.
Alex Rodriguez made his first appearance of the season as a second-half substitute in midweek following a lengthy spell out with a knee injury, and the Spanish midfielder will be pushing to start against Wycombe.
Mark Harris, Greg Leigh and Billy Bodin have scored 10 goals between them so far this season, and the attacking trio could all link up together in the front three on Saturday, with Ruben Rodrigues operating just behind central striker Harris.
As for Wycombe, they will have to cope without key midfielder Josh Scowen, who will serve a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card in Tuesday's defeat to Bolton.
The absence of Scowen could see Killian Phillips deputise in the middle of the pitch alongside Freddie Potts, while Luke Leahy is also an option to play in midfield if Bloomfield decides to move him out of the back three.
Chris Forino-Joseph, who scored the only goal in the aforementioned 1-0 away win at Oxford last season, missed the defeat to Bolton due to a knock and is a doubt for Saturday's game; 38-year-old Richard Keogh could therefore retain his place at centre-back.
Oxford United possible starting lineup:
Beadle; Stevens, Long, Moore, Brown; Brannagan, McGuane; Bodin, Rodrigues, Leigh; Harris
Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Stryjek; Low, Keogh, Leahy; Pattenden, Phillips, Potts, Boyes; McCleary; Taylor, Hanlan
We say: Oxford United 2-1 Wycombe Wanderers
Considering that both teams have regularly shown a threat in front of goal so far this season, an end-to-end contest could be in store this weekend.
Although Wycombe have got the better of Oxford in recent meetings, we believe that the hosts will return to winning ways this time around to keep the pressure on Portsmouth at the top.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
