On Saturday Mar 11th, in week 36, Oxford United plays host to Derby County in a meeting of these two extremely mismatched League One teams. Weather on match day is looking like a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 5 degrees, so hopefuly the match makes up for the weather. Oxford United is fresh off their 0-1 loss against Lincoln City. Daniel Mandroiu struck first for Lincoln City in the 23rd minute on a penalty shot, and that was all the excitement the two teams could muster At the end of 90 a dissapointed Oxford United couldn’t manage to score, and Lincoln City took the shutout win. They’re hoping to improve on their recent performance, having lost 8 of their last 10, while in their last match, 6th placed Derby County, recorded a 1-2 loss against Plymouth Argyle. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing struck first for Derby County in the 17th minute, but Callum Wright got the equalizer for Plymouth Argyle in the 59th minute Finally they completed the comback victory in the 70th minute on a penalty goal by Ryan Hardie to cap off a wild match. Derby County should be reasonably happy with their recent performance, earning 17 points in their last 10 matches.
On Jul 30th, Derby County hosted Oxford United in their last match together. Derby County won by a score of 1 to 0. Conor Hourihane struck first for Derby County in the 80th minute on a feed from Louie Sibley, and that single goal was all that was necessary as neither team could manage any more scoring In the end, Oxford United couldn’t muster any offence and Derby County ran away with the shutout win.
Derby County is fortunate enough to have David McGoldrick in top form. In the last 5 matches the attacker has scored four goals. Lewis Bate and Cameron Brannagan are the top scorers for Oxford United in the last 5 matches, but unfortunately they only have one goal. It’s hard to imagine having success with those stats.