Oxford United’s loss to Watford on Friday night means they are yet to win away from home, and it’s likely they will have to wait till at least December to see three points on the road.
Oxford have had an impressive start to life back in the Championship, and that is all thanks to their home form. Wins against Norwich City, Stoke City, Preston North End and Hull City have seen United hover just below the mid-table position for most of this season.
Their away form has not been as impressive, however.
Oxford’s struggles away from home
Some of Oxford’s poorest performances of the season have ironically come recently in home fixtures, but United have been able to pick up points in some of these games. In particular a 1-0 win over Hull in a game they didn’t deserve to win.
But away from home, Oxford haven’t quite been able to find a way to get over the line. And it’s starting to become a bit of a monkey on the player’s back.
The longer United wait for an away win, the more pressure the players will feel in away fixtures.
It’s not like United haven’t come close. Oxford have put in some fantastic displays away from home, and more than played their part in games against both Coventry City and Blackburn Rovers early on in the season, both of which saw the home side score late on to steal a win. Oxford fans also felt they deserved at least a draw against Bristol City, in a game they were winning before a controversial penalty was awarded against them in the second half.
These are just a few examples of games in which United deserved a point but got nothing. These fine margins will be the difference between teams that stay up and those that don’t. Oxford have only lost one away game by more than a goal, a sign of how competitive they’ve been in games. They must now turn that into an ability to get over the line with three points away from home.
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Oxford United away from home, as of 12th November |
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|---|---|
|
Coventry |
3-2 (L) |
|
Blackburn |
2-1 (L) |
|
Bristol City |
2-1 (L) |
|
Luton |
2-2 (D) |
|
Portsmouth |
1-1 (D) |
|
Sunderland |
2-0 (L) |
|
Watford |
1-0 (L) |
Oxford have a tough end to November
Oxford close out November with some really tricky games, and it’s very possible the Yellows don’t pick up any points for the remainder of the month.
Their remaining November fixtures are Middlesbrough at home, Sheffield United away, and Millwall at home. All three sides sit in the top eight, and will be favourites against Oxford.
The away fixture with Sheffield United will be the toughest test this month. Chris Wilder’s side sit second in the Championship and are unbeaten at home this season. Des Buckingham and his team will have a lot of work to do to avoid defeat in this game, let alone take any points away.
Oxford will have to rely on their home form, and hope the fans can provide an intense atmosphere to help the U’s get some more points on the board going into December.
Oxford’s big chance for take-off away is in December
If you’re Buckingham, you might be looking at the rest of November wondering where the points are going to come from.
What you might also be seeing, is an opportunity to make up for losses this month, in December and then some.
United start off the Christmas period with back-to-back away fixtures at Plymouth and Queens Park Rangers. Both are huge chances for Oxford to break the curse and win away from home.
Buckingham will look to target both of those games as huge opportunities to make up for the lack of points picked up in November, assuming United struggle to gain points from those games.
Following those two are home games against Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff City, both of which are also really winnable games for the U’s.
The only fixture United will go into as true underdogs in December is an away trip to Leeds, which Buckingham’s side can afford to lose if they do well in their other games that month. Although if Oxford fail to win away to Plymouth or QPR, that means they might even have to wait until the new year for their first away victory.
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The one thing looming in the minds of Oxford fans is this away win. Although it looks like that will carry on for a few more weeks, the players have two great chances to put that to bed at the start of December. The confidence that can give the club could spur them on to push back up the table instead of slowly falling down could make all the difference when it comes to staying clear of the relegation fight.