Oxford United vs Watford predictions: Hornets can sting struggling U’s
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- Oxford without a win in their last nine Championship matches
- Watford have kept clean sheets in four of their last five games
- Recommended bet: Watford draw no bet
Oxford’s miserable form continued this week, with Gary Rowett’s team now having not won since January and only four points clear of the Championship relegation zone, following their loss at Hull.
Meanwhile, Watford’s recent improvement continued, with their victory over Swansea leaving them only four points away from the play-off positions and they will view this as an opportunity to get closer still.
Team news
Greg Leigh, Joe Bennett, Tom Bradshaw and Max Woltman all missed Oxford’s trip to Hull with injuries.
Boss Rowett has tactical decisions to make, having earned a point with a back-three against Norwich, before switching to his normal 4-2-3-1 formation in the defeat to the Tigers.
Daniel Bachmann, Kevin Keben, Kwandwo Baah, Pierre Dwomoh and Mamadou Doumbia were all absent injured for the Hornets' win against Swansea.
The stats
Oxford’s 2-1 loss to Hull was their ninth consecutive game without a victory, of which they have drawn four and lost five.
Over their winless run of nine games, the U's have only scored five goals, failing to find the net in five of those matches.
Watford’s victory against Swansea was their third win in five games, with Tom Cleverley’s side also drawing once and losing once.
The Hornets have kept clean sheets in four of their last five outings.
Prediction
Oxford are slowly but surely being sucked into a relegation dogfight, with their midweek loss coming during a round of Championship fixtures in which the bottom three clubs all picked up valuable wins.
Rowett’s team are only four points outside of the relegation zone, with even bottom club Plymouth only six points adrift of them, so it is vital that they quickly start to pick up points, at a time when their rivals have started to win games.
Oxford were promoted from League One via the play-offs last season and initially made a decent start under Des Buckingham, before a descent into poor form saw him sacked in December.
Rowett’s appointment brought an initial upturn in results, but this has now waned and his cautious methods are failing to reap rewards.
Watford have only recently turned around their own form, so it makes sense to be careful about their chances of winning this away match.
However, with more attacking talent and an outside shot at promotion, they have to be favoured to claim victory.
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