Oxford vs Sunderland Tips

Oxford United host Sunderland on Saturday afternoon at Kassam Stadium with both sides looking for points to add towards their campaign for promotion into the Championship. Read the Oxford vs Sunderland match preview and predictions below.

Oxford United were top of the League One table up until last month but now sit mid-table due to just one victory in their last eight games. With 15 games remaining, securing a playoff place isn’t out of the question but Karl Robinson’s side have five points to make up and with plenty of other teams around them also challenging for promotion, including Saturday’s rivals, every game matters. Thankfully, the majority of Oxford’s poor results recently have come on the road and so they’ll be looking to build on their home form on Saturday which has seen them net an average of 1.77 goals per game at Kassam Stadium.

Sunderland are heading in the opposite direction to Oxford having suffered defeat just once in their last 12 matches. One positive which Phil Parkinson will take into Saturday’s game is that his side have been extremely solid at the back lately and have conceded just 5 goals in their last 11 games. Sunderland currently have the best defensive record in League One and even away from home the Black Cats have conceded a respectable average of just 1.14 goals per game. However, unlike at the Stadium of Light where they have netted an average of 1.77 goals per game, on their travels they have found the net an average of just 0.86 times per game. A stats which they will hope to improve on Saturday.

Oxford vs Sunderland Past Meetings

• Played: 10
• Oxford Wins: 1
• Sunderland Wins: 3
• Draws: 6

Oxford Last 10 Games Stats

• Wins: 2
• Draws: 5
• Losses: 3
• Average goals per match: 1.2
• Average goals conceded per match: 1.5
• Number of clean sheets: 2
• Over 2.5 goals in match: 6
• Under 2.5 goals in match: 4

Sunderland Last 10 Games Stats

• Wins: 7
• Draws: 2
• Losses: 1
• Average goals per match: 1.6
• Average goals conceded per match: 0.5
• Number of clean sheets: 6
• Over 2.5 goals in match: 4
• Under 2.5 goals in match: 6

Oxford Top Scorers

• James Henry: 9 Goals
• Tariqe Fosu: 8 Goals
• Matty Taylor: 6 Goals

Sunderland Top Scorers

• Lynden Gooch: 10 Goals
• Chris Maguire: 10 Goals
• Aiden McGeady: 4 Goals

Oxford vs Sunderland Prediction

Sunderland are in much better form than Oxford currently and on first glance, one would expect the visitors to be heavy favourites. However, the fact that they are playing away from home does suggest the game may be closer than expected. Given Sunderland’s solid defensive record, we’re predicting a low scoring game and we wouldn’t be surprised to see both sides share a point. These sides don’t often see a 0-0 result and so we’re backing a 1-1 draw after 90 minutes.