Oxford United vs Tranmere Predictions

After a promising start, Oxford United have seen their results tail off of late. They have dropped to 20th in the table, only marginally outside the bottom three. However, the Us now have the chance to move away from danger, as they meet a fellow struggler in Tranmere. Can the hosts take this chance to put some distance between themselves and the drop?

Oxford haven’t had the easiest run of games, with clashes against Blackpool, Burton, Coventry and Fleetwood in their last five. However, a haul of just one point from five isn’t good enough. They have struggled to get results on the board, so a clash with newly-promoted Tranmere can be labelled a must-win heading into this weekend.

Tranmere aren’t in great shape themselves, having claimed just one win in six, with that victory coming against an under-strength Bolton side. Otherwise, it hasn’t been the easiest return to this level for the visitors, who come into this game with just one point from their three away games so far. Can they add to that total at the Kassam Stadium?

Oxford will be looking to make a statement here following a string of tough games, but the fixture list doesn’t explain away all their problems. They have conceded twice or more in eight of their last 10 League One games, including each of their last five. They’ve kept one clean sheet in the league this season, while Tranmere have scored eight times in their last four games.

The hosts have seen their share of entertaining games of late, with both teams scoring in their last seven matches overall. Oxford haven’t failed to score in any game so far this season, while the only side they’ve managed to shut out was Peterborough.

While there have been some encouraging signs in Oxford’s displays, we don’t think their defence is that reliable. They should score against a Tranmere defence which has only one clean sheet all season, but we’re backing Oxford to be caught out at the back again. Given their recent BTTS streak, we are going with both teams to score at the Kassam Stadium once again.

Overall, we don’t think this will be an immediate turnaround for the hosts. Tranmere have picked up back to back draws ahead of this game, while Oxford’s leaky defence should give them the opportunity to get a result in this trip. We are settling on a draw between these two, with 1-1 our correct score prediction for Saturday.