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Oxford vs Crewe: Pre Match Stats Pack

Fortunately, Oxford didn’t have as much trouble starting their season off as they did starting the coach to get to Accrington last weekend, with the vehicle being rendered useless in farcical fashion as Coronavirus nearly stopped the football again. 

But once at the WHAM stadium, United got right into their work scoring their first goals of the season in a 4-1 victory.

The only other team going into last weekend having not scored a goal was Crewe Alexandra, but they also put to bed that record with a win of their own, two early goals enough to see off MK Dons. 

The two sides not only shared poor starts to the season but also a reputation of playing a passing and possession-based game.  

Only a few sides played more short passes per game than Oxford’s 373 last season and they also had the highest average possession in League One.

But no side in League One or Two had more passes per game than Crewe last year and they also had more short passes than anyone else in the two divisions. Additionally, their total of 48 goals from open play was bettered by only Brentford in the entirety of the EFL. 

This makes their route to a first league win of the season all the more surprising as they had just 31% possession at home to MK Dons making just 284 passes with 23% of them being long balls.

Though a switch from possession to a slightly more direct route to goal may be the secret to victory in League One this time, as Oxford boss Karl Robinson made a similar change to get his first win of the season against Accrington.

Over the last three games Oxford have averaged 77 less passes per game than they did last season, and nearly 200 less than they managed in their first three matches of the 2020-21 campaign. The tactic saw 24% of their passes against Accrington being long balls.

This shift to marginally more direct football has payed off in the results for both teams - moving from propping up the table to mid-table comfort.  




Goals, Goals, Goals!    

Despite opening their account for the season last time out, Crewe remain the league’s joint second lowest scorers - not something David Artell’s side are used to having topped the charts in league two last season.  

Notably neither Chris Porter nor Daniel Powell, who bagged 21 goals between them last season, have featured this campaign due to injury and are not expected back for the clash this weekend.

It leaves a lot of responsibility to young Charlie Kirk who signed a new two-year deal with the Railwaymen in the summer.

The winger’s 21 goal involvements last season made him Crewe’s most creative force, and no League Two player had more assists than him in the regular season, making him one of the biggest threats to the Oxford goal on Saturday.  

Oxford though will also be looking to keep their goal tally flowing, as will Matty Taylor - who is hoping his two late strikes at Accrington will kickstart his season, like it did in a similar situation at Lincoln last year.  

Taylor had failed to score in his first six league appearances, but went on to score five goals in as many games after opening his account against The Imps.  

Robinson mentioned other similarities between the trip to Sincil Bank and Accrington last weekend, with two big away wins coming after disrupted travel to the game.

Fans would be happy if their form after the Lincoln game was replicated this season, as it prompted a run which saw Oxford record just one defeat in fifteen to catapult themselves into promotion contention. 

Another spell like this would be much appreciated at Oxford after a disappointing start to the season - though the same could be said for Crewe who will be hoping to push on from the win against the Dons. Another three points may shake off any early season blues, but defeat would send one or other back towards the bottom. 

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