Colchester vs Cambridge United Predictions

Following the midweek distraction of the first round of the Carabao Cup, the attention turns back on the league, as teams try to ensure they remain on course to accomplish their goals with a strong start. This weekend brings two sides who will have contrasting ambitions this season as promotion hopefuls Colchester United welcome a Cambridge United side who will know that their main aim is to ensure they do not get embroiled in a battle at the bottom of the division.

Colchester United will be frustrated with the start they have made to the campaign as they have only managed to put a single point on the board in their opening two games. The U’s had to come from behind on the opening day to claim a point against Port Vale and they were second best against fellow promotion contenders Plymouth Argyle in a 1-0 defeat last weekend. The hosts improved with a 3-0 victory in the cup midweek and they will hope they carry that goal threat over into their league outing this weekend.

Making the trip to the Colchester Community Stadium on Saturday is a Cambridge United side who will be pleased to have made a solid start to the season, following what looked like a difficult set of opening fixtures. The visitors managed to stay strong in back to back matches against promotion hopefuls as they drew 0-0 with both Bradford City and Newport County in the league and their strength at the back was underlined as they restricted Championship side Brentford midweek. Although the match finished with a 1-1 draw, Cambridge’s battling qualities were rewarded with a victory in a penalty shoot-out.

Defensive strength has been the resounding message both of these sides have sent out in their opening matches of the season and it is something which has largely transferred over from previous campaigns. Given that the fixture is not exactly renowned for being full of goals, as the last seven encounters between these sides has finished with an average of 1.86 goals per game, we cannot see this match bucking the trend at the weekend so backing there to be less than 2.5 goals scored looks to be the way to go in this one.