Arguably the pick of the League One fixtures takes place at the Kassam Stadium on Friday as Oxford United take on Derby County.
Oxford United currently sit 5th in League One with thirteen wins, four draws and six losses from twenty-three games.
Oxford have had a pretty strong campaign on the whole but they’re still falling slightly short of preseason expectations that had them pinned as favourites for automatic promotion.
They’re only two points shy of the top two, mind, but their form has been fairly erratic over the course of the last few months and they’re coming into this game amidst another run of inconsistency having won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five games.
Their most recent game saw them claim a 2-1 win over rivals Cambridge United thanks to goals from Tyler Goodrham and Ciaron Brown.
The win was a hard-fought victory with Brown’s winner coming in the 95th minute and amidst a period of turbulent form, they’ll hope that the euphoria from Brown’s winner will be enough to act as a catalyst to a long run of wins.
Their form on home soil has remained strong even amidst the periods in which they’ve struggled as they’ve still lost only once at home in the league this season, so that can provide them with confidence ahead of a tough game here.
The dramatic win over Cambridge came at the right time as Oxford desperately needed to come into this game instilled with confidence ahead of what will likely be a tricky game to navigate.
They don’t lose often at home but this is a game that threatens their strong record.
Derby County currently sit 4th in League One with thirteen wins, four draws and five losses from twenty-two games.
After a tough first couple of months, Derby have been surging in League One and now find themselves pushing towards the automatic promotion spots.
They’re entering this game amidst an excellent run of form, unbeaten in their last eight league games having won eight of their last ten matches.
In their most recent outing, Derby ran out 1-0 winners away at Wigan Athletic courtesy of a goal from Curtis Nelson in the 19th minute.
Their away form in general has been pretty strong of late as they come into this one having won all of their last three games on the road, despite losing both of their two games prior.
Derby are the form team in this league and are coming into the game on cloud nine. A win here would arguably be their statement win of the season and would really confirm their status as automatic promotion contenders.
For our Oxford vs. Derby prediction, we’re going for a 1-1 draw.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.