Oxford United will be looking for their first league win in four when they visit Gillingham in League One.
The U’s lost at Doncaster on New Year’s Day before another defeat at home to Rotherham United last weekend and were held to a goalless draw against Ipswich on Tuesday night.
The Gills have had three draws in their last four league games with their other result a win over Rochdale and remain unbeaten in seven league matches since the defeat at AFC Wimbledon back in November.
Despite their result upturn in form, Steve Evans’ side are 14th in the table and due to the competitive nature of this season, sit just six points behind the U’s who are 5th.
Against Ipswich, Oxford kept their first clean sheet since their 1-0 win over Lincoln City on Boxing Day, but they still have one of the best defences in League One.
Defensively, the Gills have the joint second-best backline in the division, conceding 23 – two less than Oxford. But going forward is their issue, scoring just 28 this season. Only six teams have scored fewer and they are all behind the Gills in the table.
Cameron Brannagan, who has scored seven this season, was rested from the starting line up during the draw against Ipswich but did come on as a second-half substitution, and it’s likely he’ll do the same this weekend.
Former Oxford loanee Alex Jakubiak is the Gills’ top scorer with seven, while fellow forward Brandon Hanlan has scored six. Mikael Mandron has scored four this season, with midfielders Stuart O’Keefe and Olly Lee adding seven between them.
Gills’ keeper Jack Bonham has kept eight clean sheets in League One – the same as U’s goalkeeper Simon Eastwood – but has played six games more.
Oxford have lost just once in the last eleven meetings between the two sides, securing sevens wins in that process. However, that defeat was a 1-0 result in this fixture last season.
Predicted line-up: Simon Eastwood, Josh Ruffels, John Mousinho, Rob Dickie, Sam Long, Alex Rodriguez Gorrin, Shandon Baptiste, Liam Kelly, Nathan Holland, Marcus Browne, Matty Taylor.
Prediction: Gillingham 0-1 Oxford United
