Oxford United welcome league leaders Hull City to Grenoble Road on Saturday. The U’s played out a goalless draw against Ipswich on Tuesday night while Hull edged past Doncaster Rovers on Wednesday evening.
As a result of their recent matches, the Tigers have extended their lead at the top of the league to four points while the U’s are just one point clear of the bottom four.
A penalty shootout defeat in the FA Cup aside, Grant McCann’s side have won seven from eight games in all competitions. In the league, they have scored 26 goals – the joint highest with Portsmouth – and have conceded the second-lowest amount of goals with 11.
Mallik Wilks has eight goals, while Josh Magennis, Keane Lewis-Potter and George Honeyman have all added six each for the Tigers.
Oxford are struggling at both ends but managed their first league clean sheet since February on Tuesday night. Now, the issue is putting the ball in the back of the net with a conversation rate of just 10 per cent this season.
The two sides have a relatively similar record in meetings against each other. In 42 games, Oxford have 16 wins to Hull’s 12, while there have been 14 draws. The sides haven’t met since 2004 when Hull City won 4-2 at the KC Stadium in a battle between two sides gunning for promotion from Division 3. Oxford headed north top of the league with Hull in second. The win for the Tigers moved them top and they secured promotion while the U’s missed out on the playoffs. However, Oxford won this fixture last time out in 2003.
Predicted line-up: Jack Stevens, Josh Ruffels, Rob Atkinson, Elliott Moore, Sam Long, Alex Rodriguez Gorrin, Marcus McGuane, James Henry, Jordan Obita, Mide Shodipo, Matty Taylor.
Prediction: Oxford United 0-0 Hull City
