Oxford United travel to Whaddon Road to face Cheltenham in an important weekend of League One football. The two sides sit at opposite ends of the table and need a win to get within the top spot or safety.
Cheltenham currently sit 23rd in League One after 16 games. The Robins have two wins, three draws and 11 losses, leaving them on nine points, five points from 22nd Carlisle and seven points from safety.
In their last five games in all competitions, Cheltenham one win, one draw and three losses. Shayne Lavery, Jordan Rhodes and Karamoko Dembele all scored in the first half for Blackpool and despite a brace from Will Goodwin, Cheltenham weren’t able to complete the comeback as they lost 3 - 2. The Robins bounced back against Port Vale. Alfie Devine gave Port Vale the lead but a brace from Sean Long gave Cheltenham the 2 - 1 win.
In the First round of the FA Cup, Cheltenham faced Wimbledon. Rob Street was on the scoresheet for Cheltenham, but goals from Ali Al-Hamadi, Josh Davison and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans and a brace from James Tilley gave Wimbledon the 5 - 1 win. In the Football League Trophy, Cheltenham hosted West Ham’s U21 team. Oliver Scarles, Divin Mubama, George Earthy and Callum Marshall all scored in the 4 - 0 win for West Ham.
The last time out for Cheltenham was against Wigan Athletic. An own goal from Lewis Freestone gave Wigan the lead but a penalty from Liam Sercombe meant the game finished 1 - 1, despite Cheltenham having 19 shots with six of those on target.
Oxford United, on the other hand, sit second in League One, in 16 games, Oxford United have 11 wins, two draws and three losses which leaves them on 35 points, equal with Bolton and just one point behind Portsmouth.
In their last five games in all competitions, Oxford United have four wins and one draw. The singular draw came against Wycombe. Ruben Rodrigues opened the scoring for Oxford but a brace of penalties from Luke Leahy gave Wycombe the lead going into the closing stages. A 96th minute penalty from Cameron Brannagan rescued a 2 - 2 draw for Oxford. A goal from Ciaron Brown and an own goal from Lukas Jensen gave Oxford the 2 - 0 win over Lincoln City.
In the First round of the FA Cup, Oxford hosted Maidenhead United. Billy Bodin grabbed both goals of the game in another 2 - 0 win for Oxford. In the Football League Trophy, Oxford faced Chelsea’s U21 team. Sonny Perkins, Jordan Thorniley and Mark Harris all scored along with a brace from Josh Murphy in the 5 - 0 thrashing of Chelsea.
The most recent outing for Oxford was against Leyton Orient. A brace from Rodrigues and a goal from Bodin gave Oxford the 3 - 0 lead going into halftime. Despite an own goal from Fin Stevens and a goal from Ruel Sotiriou, Oxford held on for a 3 - 2 win.
This weekend will be the 30th meeting between these two teams, with the first meeting coming as recently as 2001. Oxford have a marginal advantage in this fixture with ten wins in comparison to Cheltenham’s nine wins. However, draws are very common in this fixture with ten draws so far.