Oxford have given themselves a great chance of escaping from the Championship trapdoor with back-to-back wins in the last week. Now they take a relegation rival back to the Kassam with the chance to go within a point of Rovers and drag them into the battle as well.
Matt Bloomfield has organised Oxford and made them effective off the ball; this was in evidence against Preston on Friday night. There was a willingness to press high when possible, but also a good shape about them when the opposition had good possession of the ball.
The main thing, though, has been that Oxford have been physically aggressive, especially going forward. They have scored five goals from set pieces or second balls from set pieces, and whilst Blackburn themselves are a physically strong group, they are near the bottom for a reason; they are lacking in confidence and have underperformed in both boxes.
It was a header from a centre back that saved Rovers from defeat against Portsmouth on Saturday, albeit not from a set piece, but Rovers have generally struggled away from home since winter kicked in. They have won once in ten away matches in all competitions, and even that saw their first three shots find the net against QPR.
Rovers now have a -0.5 xG differential in away matches over their last 30 games, and haven’t created more than one xG in four of their last five away Championship games.
