Bradford vs Oxford United Predictions

After securing a pleasing draw away at Peterborough last weekend, the Bantams would’ve fancied themselves to see off National League Aldershot without too much fuss on Tuesday night, though they struggled to assert their authority before eventually coming through via a penalty shootout.

The Bantams did struggle to get past non-league Aldershot on Tuesday evening, though if we take them on their last couple of League One performances, then it’s fair to say that they’ve improved.

Against Portsmouth in their penultimate league match, David Hopkin’s men acquitted themselves very well, as they were anything but outclassed by the current league leaders. On that occasion, the Bantams emerged with a +0.3 expected goal supremacy, which tells us that they were rather unfortunate to lose by a goal to nil.

Losing against Pompey having played so well was a disappointment, but they took the positives and built on them when drawing away against Peterborough last time out. Against Posh last time out, Hopkin’s men once again dominated in terms of attacking play, so much so that they could be forgiven for being disappointed with a 1-1 draw.

They remain in an unflattering league position and there’s lots of work to be done, but the Bantams can be pleased with their last couple of showings in the league, so there is hope.

Having struggled at the start of the season, Oxford have also improved in recent times. The U’s comfortably came through their FA Cup replay on Tuesday, while they’re now unbeaten in seven league matches, three of which they’ve won.

It did look as though Oxford were in for a tough campaign after the first four or five matches, though Karl Robinson has managed to get a tune out of his side over the last few months, so much so that it’s not at all hard to envisage Saturday’s visitors moving into a more comfortable mid-table position.

Both teams have improved in recent times, though most of that improvement has been in the defensive third. Neither look overly poor in the final third, but it would be wrong to say that either have made massive strides offensively. After all, both Bradford and Oxford rank inside the bottom seven in terms of expected goals for. What’s more, Bradford currently rank as the worst team in the division when it comes to shots on target at home, while only five teams have accumulated less shots on target than Oxford away from home.

If we add in the fact that Bradford are averaging just 1.05 expected goals for at home and the fact that Oxford are averaging just 1.16 on their travels, coupled with the simple fact that it is important for both to continue avoiding defeat in order to create stability, the bet that stands out is ‘Under 2.5 Goals’.