Gillingham vs Oxford United Predictions & Tips

Oxford have lost their last two away matches without scoring
Oxford haven’t won on any of their last four visits to Priestfield
A change in manager for Gillingham has seen improved performances in their last two outings

Improved Gills since Evans departure

Some people may be calling for a strait jacket following this preview and those calls may be entirely justified come 5pm on Saturday afternoon. I’m going to go firmly against the grain in this one and I think there is enough reason to chance Gillingham ending their 16-match winless run.

Steve Lovell’s return to the club has brought out some improved performances from the Gills. Whilst the points return doesn’t reflect that in the three games overseen by Lovell, there is cause for optimism going into Saturday’s game. On their penultimate outing they almost salvaged an improbable draw away Wigan having gone behind 2-0 in the first half, ultimately falling to a 3-2 defeat. They followed this with a 0-0 draw against Shrewsbury in midweek, a game in which they should have won having had a xG rating of 1.66 compared to the visitors 0.79.

Oxford’s poor Priestfield record may well continue

Oxford come into this game having lost their last two away games 2-0 and a defeat on Saturday may see them slip out of the play-off places. Oxford currently sit in 6^th place and their recent form must be of concern to Karl Robinson as the chasing pack begin to assemble. One win in their last four games has seen a number of teams close the gap on the last play-off berth.

Gillingham’s recent record in this fixture at Priestfield can provide further optimism that their baron run may be about to end. Gillingham are unbeaten in their last four games with Oxford at this ground and are expected to make life difficult for the visitors on Saturday as they did in the reverse fixture which finished 1-1 in September.

With the law of averages firmly on our side, I will put up Gillingham as my main selection in the outright market. For my correct score prediction, I will go for a 2-1 home win.