Oxford United vs Sheffield Wednesday - prediction, team news, lineups

Needing wins from their past 2 games to basal a accidental of escaping the bottommost 3 of the Championship table, Oxford United volition invited Sheffield Wednesday to the Kassam Stadium connected Saturday successful the penultimate circular of fixtures.

The hosts beryllium six points adrift of information with six near to play for pursuing back-to-back defeats, portion their visitors person 2 remaining chances to get retired of antagonistic points earlier their driblet to League One.

Match preview

Oxford United caput into the play needing a triumph to basal a accidental of staying successful the combat for Championship endurance for the last time of the season.

In their 2nd word successful England's 2nd tier, the U's person consistently fought astatine the bottommost extremity of the part and present find themselves six points adrift, having picked up 44 from their 44 games, winning 10 and losing 20 of those with lone Saturday's visitors scoring less than their 41 goals.

Matt Bloomfield's broadside moved wrong touching region of information with consecutive draws and a location triumph implicit Watford successful aboriginal April, but they person since been chopped adrift again pursuing a brace of 1-0 defeats.

After leaving Derby County empty-handed past weekend, with Jaydon Banel's first-half extremity sealing the points for the hosts, they hosted Wrexham midweek and again fell short, arsenic Josh Windass fired the visitors to a 1-0 triumph with a 40th-minute opener.

Now sitting six points down 21st-placed Charlton Athletic with 2 games remaining, Oxford United cognize that they volition lone enactment up if they tin triumph some of their remaining matches and Charlton suffer some of theirs.

Their visitors, meanwhile, marque the travel to the Kassam Stadium successful hunt of conscionable a 2nd triumph of a hard Championship campaign, successful which they person faced off-pitch issues from the outset.

Sheffield Wednesday entered medication successful October, triggering deductions totalling 18 points, and they person failed to flooded that, sitting connected -3 with 2 games remaining having won conscionable erstwhile and mislaid 31 of their 44 matches.

The Owls person failed to vie astatine either extremity of the pitch, scoring a league-low tally of 26 goals and conceding a league-high 84, portion they caput into the play successful the midst of the longest winless tally successful shot league history, present 39 games successful each competitions dating backmost to September.

On the backmost of a tally of 3 consecutive draws including with champions Coventry City, Henrik Pedersen's broadside visited Middlesbrough connected Wednesday but failed to marque it 4 games unbeaten, alternatively suffering a 1-0 decision astatine the Riverside Stadium arsenic Morgan Whittaker's 11th-minute extremity made the lone difference.

Now sitting connected -3 points with 2 games remaining earlier their driblet to League One and the hopes of a caller commencement nether caller ownership, Sheffield Wednesday volition bid to extremity their agelong hold for a Championship triumph connected Saturday.

Oxford United Championship form:

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Sheffield Wednesday Championship form:

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Team News

Oxford United volition stay without Brian De Keersmaecker, Greg Leigh, Przemyslaw Placheta and Tyler Goodrham connected Saturday owed to ongoing injuries.

Will Lankshear volition anticipation to again pb the line, with Myles Peart-Harris, Stanley Mills, Jamie Donley, Mark Harris and Aidomo Emakhu each competing to articulation him.

Elsewhere, Cameron Brannagan remains a cardinal antheral successful midfield, portion Will Vaulks volition vie to instrumentality to the motor country from the commencement successful spot of either Jamie McDonnell oregon Yunus Konak.

Sheffield Wednesday look wounded issues of their own, with Svante Ingelsson and Joel Ndala having missed retired successful caller weeks, joining Ike Ugbo, Di'Shon Bernard, Liam Cooper and George Brown successful the attraction room.

Jamal Lowe volition vie to commencement successful attack, aft Jerry Yates and Charlie McNeill got the motion successful midweek, portion Nathaniel Chalobah should travel backmost into the midfield from the outset.

First-choice goalkeeper Pierce Charles besides missed the travel to Middlesbrough with a knock, and if helium is not deemed acceptable to diagnostic astatine the play past Murphy Cooper volition proceed betwixt the sticks.

Oxford United imaginable starting lineup:

Cumming; Long, Helik, Brown, Spencer; Konak, Vaulks; Mills, Brannagan, Donley; Lankshear

Sheffield Wednesday imaginable starting lineup:

Cooper; Palmer, Otegbayo, M Lowe; Fusire, Heskey, Chalobah, Thornton, Adaramola; Yates, J Lowe

We say: Oxford United 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday

Needing a triumph to basal immoderate accidental of taking their endurance hopes into the last day, we backmost Oxford United to instrumentality each 3 points astatine location to a depleted Sheffield Wednesday connected the backmost of a gruelling midweek trial astatine Middlesbrough.

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