Oxford vs Leeds Prediction: Farke’s men to keep on winning

Oxford United took a major step towards survival on Saturday as they beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 to put themselves six points clear of the drop zone. Now they face a major test at home as they face title-chasing Leeds United (20:00, Sky Sports Main Event), who could take themselves within touching distance of the Premier League with another three points. 

Below you can find my Oxford vs Leeds predictions featuring team news and match odds. 

Football Odds

Team News

Oxford United will be without defender Ciaron Brown for the rest of this season after he was forced off during the first-half of last week’s 3-1 defeat at home to QPR with a knee injury. The 27-year-old had played every available league minute for the U’s this term until his injury and has now been ruled out for the rest of the campaign by Gary Rowett. 

He’s played centre-back and covered at left-back, so it is somewhat of a relief that the duo of Joe Bennett and Greg Leigh returned to action at Hillsborough on Saturday.

“Benno is a hugely experienced player. He’s played a lot of games for this club, and played at this level for a long time,” Rowett said. “Greg was probably one of our better players early on when I came in, so it’s nice to have those options back.”

Ruben Rodrigues will hope to force his way back into the starting XI while I’d also expect Przemyslaw Placheta to come in on the wing and Mark Harris to start ahead of Tom Bradshaw. Oxford probably only need one more win, but they could further shake up the promotion picture with victory on Friday. 

Meanwhile Leeds United boss Daniel Farke gave an injury update in his pre-match press conference. "Joe Rothwell will definitely miss Oxford but we hope to get him back for Bristol City. As for Dan James, we will probably have him for Monday, if he’s already able to play on Friday, that’s a late decision."

If James does miss out then Manor Solomon and Willy Gnonto will continue to provide the width, while Patrick Bamford has emerged as a genuine option to lead the line - although he will probably have to settle for a place on the bench again. Karl Darlow will keep his place in goal after two wins in a row, while the back four will also remain unchanged.

Oxford vs Leeds Odds

Oxford are priced at 8/1 to win this game giving them an implied win probability of 11%. Meanwhile Leeds are 1/3 to take maximum points and a draw is up at 18/5. Over 2.5 goals has come in during 52% of Oxford’s matches and is 8/11 while BTTS is 11/10. Joel Piroe is the favourite to open the scoring at 7/2 having struck 15 times already this term.

BTTS @ 11/10

I think both teams can score at the Kassam Stadium and I think we’re getting really good odds on it happening. Leeds don’t particularly need any introduction when it comes to finding the net. They’ve scored a whopping 82 goals this term, 19 more than any other team in the second tier this season. 

Their attacking strength is incomparable in this division and although Oxford are decent defensively, I can’t see Leeds drawing a blank. They’ve scored at least twice in four of their last six while they also found the net in the other two matches during this run. Oxford have bagged three 1-0 wins in their last five matches but they won’t be able to keep Leeds at bay - however, they have shown some good attacking intent of late. 

They have scored in each of their last eight matches and five of those have ended with both teams on the scoresheet. So all in all, I think we are getting good odds on both teams finding the net at the Kassam on Friday night. 

Leeds United -1 handicap @ 1/1

My confidence in Leeds has returned. I’d backed them to win the league before a ball was kicked and bar some recent wobbles, my faith in them hasn’t wavered too much. They’ve got the best attack in the division, while now their goalkeeping issue has been ‘resolved’ they are looking far more solid at the back. 

They’ve won back-to-back matches and now it feels like they are set to be playing Premier League football next term. The only thing left for them to do is seal promotion and battle it out for the title, which I do believe they will win. I think we are set for a high-scoring affair in Oxford, and I’m backing Leeds to win it comfortably.

Offers

Place an In-Play single bet of £10 or more at odds of 1/2+ on any Premier League or Championship game on Friday or Saturday and get £5 in Free Bets to use In-Play on Sunday’s Premier League or Championship games. (Credited upon Bet Settlement).

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down