Oxford United resume their pursuit to climb back into the automatic promotion spots as they lock horns with Northampton Town this weekend.
Oxford United currently sit 5th in League One with fifteen wins, four draws and seven losses from twenty-six games this season.
The U's came into the season as automatic promotion favourites but they’re falling short of that tag at present as they find themselves just three points clear of Stevenage in 7th.
They started the season excellently but their form took a dip around October time and they’ve been fighting to get back to their best ever since.
They have, though, been showing some positive signs in recent games as they enter this one having won three of their last four, the most recent of which was a 3-1 win away at Carlisle United.
Granted, Carlisle are a team struggling in the relegation zone but it still takes a good team to effectively and professionally dispatch of them in the manner they did away from home.
Their form at home has still remained strong in the face of adversity, as they enter this game having lost just one of their last nine league games on home soil.
They’re still short of their best form, but signs suggest they’re on the way back to that and given they’re still in a very healthy position as far as an automatic promotion charge is concerned they’ll be satisfied with where they currently sit.
They’re facing a side in good form here but they should feel confident about registering another win on the board.
Northampton Town currently sit 9th in League One with eleven wins, four draws and eleven losses from twenty-six games this season.
Following promotion from League Two last time out, the Cobblers had a tough start to the season but they’ve since improved drastically and now look more than comfortable in England’s third tier of professional football.
They’re coming into this game in good form having won just two of their last eleven games, winning three of their last five.
Their most recent game was a 1-1 draw at home against Wigan Athletic, with Sam Hoskins’ penalty cancelled out by Josh Magennis’ second-half goal.
Away from home Northampton have been a mixed bag having won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five games on the road so it’s likely to going to require a big performance to take a result from this game.
They’ve won two of their last three head-to-head meetings with Oxford, including a 2-1 win back in December, so they’ll be quietly confident of going home with a good result on Saturday.
For our Oxford vs. Northampton prediction, we’re going for a 2-1 win for the home side.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.