Stoke vs Oxford Prediction: Another U’s clean sheet?

Stoke City’s season has unravelled somewhat. They were second in the league when they lost to Coventry at the start of November - but after a brutal winter they sit 16th, 11 points above the drop zone. 

Their next test comes on Wednesday night as they host second-bottom Oxford United (20:00 GMT, Sky Sports Main Event), but the U’s have improved under Matt Bloomfield. Below you can find my Stoke vs Oxford predictions. 

Team News

Mark Robins have no new injury issues but may choose to change things up after a poor run of form. The goalkeeping situation is costing them points, with both Viktor Johansson and Gavin Bazunu out injured, youngster Tommy Simkin continues to deputise. 

Sam Gallagher and Robert Bozenik are out injured, but Robins has options in the final third to rotate. Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Million Manhoef could both come in to start this one, while Ben Gibson may fill in at right-back, allowing Sorba Thomas to return to the left wing.

Football Odds

Oxford boss Matt Bloomfield would want to name an unchanged side here, but Jamie McDonnell went off injured so Will Vaulks could partner captain Cameron Brannagan in the engine room. 

Michal Helik was on the bench against Boro, but after another impressive clean sheet, may remain as a substitute, while Jamie Donley could force his way into the XI against his former side.

Today's Football Fixtures

Stoke vs Oxford Odds

Stoke are the favourites for this one, priced at 5/6 to find the win, giving them an implied win probability of 55%. Oxford are 7/2 to find a win, while a draw is 23/10.

Milan Smit is the favourite to score first at 9/2, over 2.5 goals is 6/5 and BTTS is 1/1. 

Under 2.5 goals @ 4/6

I don’t think this will be a particularly entertaining game of football, mainly based on what we have seen from Oxford lately. Their last two away games have come against the two best teams in the Championship, and they’ve taken 0-0 draws from both Coventry and Middlesbrough. 

That shouldn’t be underestimated and Bloomfield has certainly instilled a defensive solidity into this side, and they have flexibility to switch between a back five and back four. Stoke are winless in eight and although they drew 2-2 with Leicester City last time out, they may find life tough against this solid Oxford outfit. 

Stoke sit joint-bottom of the over 2.5 goals success rate table, with only 13 of their 33 matches ending with three goals or more. Another low-scoring affair would land us a winner. 

No first goalscorer @ 13/2

I think Oxford can go and pull off another clean sheet here, and that means we can try to take advantage of another market. If this pattern continues, and they get a third 0-0 draw in a row, we will bag a winner, but I prefer the no first goalscorer market to the correct score, as it means if there is an own goal, we still land a winner. 

Stoke have failed to score in three of their last four league games, while Oxford have failed to score in four of their last five Championship encounters. In my opinion, this is a great price given their attacking woes of late. 

2 Up Early Payout

Pre-Match Football bets on the 2 Up Early Payout market in selected games. Paid as a winner within 5 minutes if your team goes 2 goals ahead. Selected leagues only. 90 mins only. T&Cs Apply.

Sports Welcome Offer

New customers only. Deposit via Debit Card & place first bet £10+ (1/1+) on Sports in 7 days. £30 Sports & £20 Acca Free Bets within 10 hrs of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility, payment excl. & T&Cs Apply.

You can read all our latest Football Betting Tips at our dedicated Betfred Insights content hub.