Oxford United vs Crystal Palace

Third-tier Oxford United and Crystal Palace are set to square off at the Kassam Stadium in the EFL Cup second-round tie.

Oxford United required a penalty shoot-out drama to defy the odds and defeat EFL Championship side Swansea City in the previous EFL Cup round (3-2). However, Karl Robinson’s men have since suffered a drastic dip in form, going winless in three consecutive League Two fixtures ahead of this tie (D1, L2). Barring that high-scoring contest against Swansea, the ‘Yellows’ have found the goals hard to come by this season. A lack of firepower up top has seen Oxford bag under 1.5 goals in their five remaining competitive outings in 2022/23, failing to get on the scoresheet before halftime in all five! If that’s not concerning enough, they’ve not kept a clean sheet in their last three home games, suggesting Palace forwards could have a field day.

On the other hand, Crystal Palace take this trip in high spirits after beating Aston Villa 3-1 at home to end a two-game winless start to the new Premier League season (D1, L1). Patrick Vieira’s side impressed on their most recent top-flight travel, holding title-bidding Liverpool to a dramatic 1-1 draw at Anfield. Yet, playing away from home has been troubling for Palace this year, as they’ve only won once in seven domestic road trips since the beginning of April (D2, L4). Much of the credit for the Londoners’ underwhelming away form goes to their fragile backline that failed to register a single shutout across those seven matches, conceding an average of 1.57 goals per game in the process.