Overview
A tough trip to Stevenage is next up on Oxford's agenda as we re-adjust to life in league one. After last weekend's solid point and positive play in spells, Aaron Ramsey will be looking to back that up with a win at the Lamex.
Stevenage's physicality will give us another test at the back, but with them possessing less quality throughout the team than MK Dons, there is a real chance for the U's to dominate not only the possession, but the chance creation and momentum in the game itself.
With positive memories of our last trip here in 2023, a similar result would be much-welcomed in order to continue to settle any on-pitch nerves amongst fans this season.
Whilst the headlines will likely, once again, be around absentees, and two players in particular, it will be ever-more important for the 1000+ travelling yellow army to get behind the players and manager who clearly want to fight for this club, as we did so impressively last Saturday.
Predicted line-up
One change from the 2-2 draw with MK Dons sees Michal Helik come in for Sam Long.
Due to the problems we had defending crosses last Saturday, and with Stevenage expected to play in a similar, physical manner, the added height of Helik will surely be appealing to Aaron Ramsey, and a change that would certainly be welcomed by myself.
The midfield three again stays the same, purely due to a lack of other options, as otherwise I'd be looking at a midfielder more comfortable on the ball to come into the team ahead of Jamie McDonnell, in a game where we are expected to dominate possession.
The front three each had their moments last weekend. Both Siriki Dembele and Aidomo Emakhu are clearly favoured by Ramsey and will keep their respective places. Mark Harris starts ahead of Gatlin O'Donkor on goal-scoring merit, and with it being August, we should make the most of Mark Harris' remarkable form in this calendar month throughout his Oxford career!
The bench includes impressive youngster Mo Missanga, who will hopefully be given another opportunity to show what he can do, as he did against MK. The notable name though, and maybe slightly optimistically, sees Stan Mills return to the matchday squad. Although this may seem unlikely after Ramsey's comments last weekend, I get the feeling that there may have been a stern conversation had between the two, which will hopefully result in Stan's involvement on Saturday.
The opposition
I expect Stevenage to set up in their tried and tested 4-4-2 formation.
Like last week, it will be a physical test and one largely fought in the air for our players. However, unlike last week, I expect the crosses from wide areas to be less accurate and less often, as neither Chem Campbell or Dan Kemp are that kind of 'get to the by-line and cross it in' winger, with that aspect of the game not being either's forte.
In all honesty, this is a side consisting of very little technical quality, but as-ever, they are a typical smaller league one side. They have a manager in Alex Revell who massively overperformed last season, but they will work incredibly hard and create chances from set-pieces, with two muscly, proven goal-scorers up front.
Whilst this certainly won't be 'easy' for Oxford, we definitely possess the individual players in our ranks to win this game and put in a strong performance. This, coupled with a matched energy and work-ethic of Stevenage should get us over the line, however if that physical side of the performance isn't shown, we could easily find ourselves in bother.
Tactical setup
Stevenage almost never dominated possession in any game last season, but despite that, they had a brilliant home record and remarkably found themselves in a play-off spot come the end of the season. This was largely down to their ability to create chances and score goals from set pieces, and being built on an incredibly solid defensive backbone.
I expect both of those things to continue into Saturday and this season as a whole. This means that we will need to defend our box aerially much better than we did against MK Dons, with the responsibility being shared throughout the team: wide players to stop crosses, centre backs to win headers and make clearances, and the goalkeeper to claim crosses close to him, an area Jamie Cumming particularly struggled with last weekend.
For us, we can effectively win this game and score numerous goals by any means other than putting crosses into the box. The height and physicality of the Steveange centre back's make it almost impossible to win balls in the air up top, particularly when that is arguably Mark Harris' weakest element of the game. However, we can hurt them by putting balls in behind over the top, as neither Piergianni or Vancooten are very quick, and this is the part of the game where Harris shines. We also have the ability to break the opposition down using star individual quality, which may simply over-power them, with the likes of Goodrham and Dembele being able to pick up spaces in between the Stevenage back-line and midfield and having the potential to really hurt them in the final third.
Any thoughts and support would be appreciated as ever!
A tough trip to Stevenage is next up on Oxford's agenda as we re-adjust to life in league one. After last weekend's solid point and positive play in spells, Aaron Ramsey will be looking to back that up with a win at the Lamex.
Stevenage's physicality will give us another test at the back, but with them possessing less quality throughout the team than MK Dons, there is a real chance for the U's to dominate not only the possession, but the chance creation and momentum in the game itself.
With positive memories of our last trip here in 2023, a similar result would be much-welcomed in order to continue to settle any on-pitch nerves amongst fans this season.
Whilst the headlines will likely, once again, be around absentees, and two players in particular, it will be ever-more important for the 1000+ travelling yellow army to get behind the players and manager who clearly want to fight for this club, as we did so impressively last Saturday.
Predicted line-up
One change from the 2-2 draw with MK Dons sees Michal Helik come in for Sam Long.
Due to the problems we had defending crosses last Saturday, and with Stevenage expected to play in a similar, physical manner, the added height of Helik will surely be appealing to Aaron Ramsey, and a change that would certainly be welcomed by myself.
The midfield three again stays the same, purely due to a lack of other options, as otherwise I'd be looking at a midfielder more comfortable on the ball to come into the team ahead of Jamie McDonnell, in a game where we are expected to dominate possession.
The front three each had their moments last weekend. Both Siriki Dembele and Aidomo Emakhu are clearly favoured by Ramsey and will keep their respective places. Mark Harris starts ahead of Gatlin O'Donkor on goal-scoring merit, and with it being August, we should make the most of Mark Harris' remarkable form in this calendar month throughout his Oxford career!
The bench includes impressive youngster Mo Missanga, who will hopefully be given another opportunity to show what he can do, as he did against MK. The notable name though, and maybe slightly optimistically, sees Stan Mills return to the matchday squad. Although this may seem unlikely after Ramsey's comments last weekend, I get the feeling that there may have been a stern conversation had between the two, which will hopefully result in Stan's involvement on Saturday.
The opposition
I expect Stevenage to set up in their tried and tested 4-4-2 formation.
Like last week, it will be a physical test and one largely fought in the air for our players. However, unlike last week, I expect the crosses from wide areas to be less accurate and less often, as neither Chem Campbell or Dan Kemp are that kind of 'get to the by-line and cross it in' winger, with that aspect of the game not being either's forte.
In all honesty, this is a side consisting of very little technical quality, but as-ever, they are a typical smaller league one side. They have a manager in Alex Revell who massively overperformed last season, but they will work incredibly hard and create chances from set-pieces, with two muscly, proven goal-scorers up front.
Whilst this certainly won't be 'easy' for Oxford, we definitely possess the individual players in our ranks to win this game and put in a strong performance. This, coupled with a matched energy and work-ethic of Stevenage should get us over the line, however if that physical side of the performance isn't shown, we could easily find ourselves in bother.
Tactical setup
Stevenage almost never dominated possession in any game last season, but despite that, they had a brilliant home record and remarkably found themselves in a play-off spot come the end of the season. This was largely down to their ability to create chances and score goals from set pieces, and being built on an incredibly solid defensive backbone.
I expect both of those things to continue into Saturday and this season as a whole. This means that we will need to defend our box aerially much better than we did against MK Dons, with the responsibility being shared throughout the team: wide players to stop crosses, centre backs to win headers and make clearances, and the goalkeeper to claim crosses close to him, an area Jamie Cumming particularly struggled with last weekend.
For us, we can effectively win this game and score numerous goals by any means other than putting crosses into the box. The height and physicality of the Steveange centre back's make it almost impossible to win balls in the air up top, particularly when that is arguably Mark Harris' weakest element of the game. However, we can hurt them by putting balls in behind over the top, as neither Piergianni or Vancooten are very quick, and this is the part of the game where Harris shines. We also have the ability to break the opposition down using star individual quality, which may simply over-power them, with the likes of Goodrham and Dembele being able to pick up spaces in between the Stevenage back-line and midfield and having the potential to really hurt them in the final third.
Any thoughts and support would be appreciated as ever!
