Blackburn Rovers and Oxford United clash on Saturday afternoon with both sides looking for their second wins of the season.
Blackburn Rovers and Oxford United both emerged victorious on the opening day and will be out to get a second here.
Rovers produced a great second-half performance on the opening day to defeat newly-promoted Derby County 3-2. They then played out a 2-2 draw away from home against Norwich City with Ryan Hedges and summer signing Yuki Ohashi netting.
With 12 goals in three games across all competitions, it’s been a free-scoring start to the season for John Eustace’s side.
As for Oxford United, they’ve made a stronger start to life in the Championship than many had backed them to.
They produced one of the surprise results of the opening weekend to defeat Norwich City at the Kassam Stadium. It marked the perfect start to the season upon their rise from League One.
Des Buckingham’s side might have lost last time out, but a narrow 3-2 loss through a late Haji Wright goal marked a performance with plenty of positives to take.
Here, a handful of our writers make their predictions for the game…
James Ray
“It’s been a positive start to the season for both these sides and they should both be coming into this one feeling like a result is there to be had.
“Blackburn Rovers have been really impressive going forward with some great signings made. Yuki Ohashi especially looks like a real threat, and Makhtar Gueye is going to be a handful that Oxford United must keep contained.
“The U’s have some big talents and dangerous threats of their own they. They certainly have a side capable of beating Rovers, but the hosts really have some steam behind them at this early stage.
“We should get a competitive game here, but I am leaning towards a home win. I’ll say this ends 2-1 to Blackburn.”
Prediction: Blackburn Rovers 2-1 Oxford United
Harry Mail
“Blackburn Rovers have made a decent start to the new season with four points on the board. Despite losing Sammie Szmodics, they still seem to be doing well under John Eustace and will fancy their chances of beating Oxford United.
“The U’s have adapted well to life in the Championship and did well to beat Norwich City on the opening day. They were then unlucky to lose at Coventry City and made a good account of themselves.
“They aren’t just in the second tier to make up the numbers. This will be a tough test for Des Buckingham’s side at Ewood Park though and I think they may just fall short against Blackburn Rovers.”