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Is Marcus Browne changing Oxford's fortunes?

When Oxford last Saturday scraped past the Shrimpers, Marcus Browne provided the assist for the winning goal.  This game also saw the on-loan winger start his fourth game in a row, a run which has coincided with Oxford’s four wins on the bounce. This begs the question of just how big an impact has the Boro winger has had since he returned to the club.

Browne rejoined Oxford on 9 January and has started seven of the eleven league games
since his arrival. However in this period Oxford have won just five of these games.



Oxford’s average points per game has improved since Browne joined the club. But that does not necessarily link to the quality of oxford’s performance.

The 22 year old may show his quality on the ball, but the rest of the team’s average possession is down 2% in the games Browne has started compared to the average before he joined. Oxford also average 26 less passes per match when Browne starts compared to when he does not. He may have the skills on the ball, but is he really helping the team?

Well, yes actually. Oxford average slightly more goals per game when Browne has started. That combined with the greater points per game ratio when he plays, suggests there is more to his contribution than just sublime nutmegs.

Though his silky skills do more than just help the players on the field, Browne creates great excitement for the Oxford fans, especially at home where five of his seven league starts have come.
In these five games, Oxford have averaged 2.4 goals per game - almost half a goal better than their season average. Browne’s three goals in nine appearances already makes him Oxford's fifth top scorer in the league this season.   

Browne or Fosu?

The stats suggest there is not much between Browne and the Tariqe Fosu - who moved to Brentford in the January window after a bright start to the season,

Fosu averaged a goal every 236 minutes, narrowly better than Browne with a goal every 224 minutes. Strangely, Browne also averages an assist every 224 minutes and a yellow card every 224 minutes - that's consistency. 

Fosu cannot boast the same kind of stats for the rest of his game; he recorded just three assists for his entire League 1 campaign, the same as Browne in nearly three times the amount of time.

Browne, albeit over a smaller number of games, averages 0.7 more shots per game than Fosu. Both average one shot on target per match. Fosue only registered one shot on target in his first eight games - ironically in the first game of the season against Sunderland - so all the more impressive he should have scored eight league goals in his brief Oxford career.

So there isn’t too much to split the two players as both have helped Oxford to a successful scoring season. In fact, Oxford’s scoring was at its worst in the three games when both played - so maybe one is enough when it comes to a tricky winger.  

Whether Browne is an improvement on Fosu or not, he has definitely been instrumental in Oxford’s good form of late and if his this continues, the stats suggest that Browne will tear you apart, again

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