Sideways Sammy

A win in the League Cup this week has staved off some of the negativity that arose from an opening day defeat but this first home league match of the campaign will have a much greater effect on the mood around Coventry City than Tuesday night’s narrow victory over Bristol City. In front of a packed out Coventry Building Society Arena against a newly-promoted team, most will be anticipating not just a win but a comfortable one. This clash with Oxford United comes with significant pressure for the Sky Blues.

If the U’s last few results, stretching back to an impressive League One Play-Off campaign last season, are any indication, this is going to be a much harder game than anticipated. Under a talented young manager, in Des Buckingham, Oxford United have developed an ability to win big games. Having already beaten play-off candidates, Norwich City, they won’t be the deer in the CBS Arena floodlights that many of a Sky Blue persuasion may be expecting.

Expected Line-Up

Mark Robins rotated for the midweek League Cup match, ensuring that every first-team squad member – aside from the injured Ben Sheaf and Raphael Borges Rodrigues, plus third-choice goalkeeper, Brad Collins – has now had at least 60 minutes of action over the first two games. With there being a relatively short turnaround between Tuesday night and this game, fatigue will be a concern surrounding a few in the squad, but the most important players should be in a condition to play the full 90 here.

The main selection concern at the moment is finding the right balance in midfield. Mark Robins has stuck with the 4-2-3-1 from last season, with the deeper two having been the issue over the first two games due to the lack of an available defensive minded player in that area. Jamie Allen and Jack Rudoni were deployed there to good effect later on against Bristol City on Tuesday night, the issue with sticking with that for this game is who to utilise in the role behind the striker if Rudoni is played deeper, given that Kasey Palmer played the full 90 in midweek. With Victor Torp having underwhelmed over the opening couple of games, Jamie Allen and Josh Eccles could well make up the midfield two here, with Rudoni further forward.

Strong performances from Jay Dasilva and Liam Kitching in midweek may tempt Mark Robins into changes in defence. Of the two, Dasilva is probably the likelier to get into the team, after Jake Bidwell failed to demonstrate his defensive qualities in his attempts to prevent Stoke City’s winner on the opening day. Dasilva’s extra quality on the ball could be useful if the Sky Blues are to end up dominating possession in this game. Kitching, meanwhile, may still be on the naughty step after some ropey performances towards the end of last season.

Elsewhere, the other big call looks to be between Haji Wright and Ephron Mason-Clark on the left of the attack. Wright may well be the first-choice player currently, however, he hasn’t looked particularly sharp after returning from injury towards the end of pre-season. That may provide Mason-Clark an opportunity to contest that place on the left side, against an opponent that did a good job of shutting him down during the League One Play-Offs last season when he was at Peterborough United.

Last Time We Met

It was a complete mismatch when Coventry City took on Oxford United back at the start of January in the FA Cup Third Round. An early Joel Latibeaudiere goal from a corner-kick set up a manic start where Oxford equalised almost straight from the resulting kick-off, and then the Sky Blues did the exact same thing to restore their lead. When Kasey Palmer made it 3-1 in the 16th minute with a belting effort from range, that sparked the cue for Coventry to get the party tricks out for the rest of the contest, with Palmer and Callum O’Hare, in particular, in the mood to put on a show.

Kasey Palmer won a penalty early in the second-half, which saw Calum O’Hare unexpectedly step up and score with an awkward unorthodox run-up. Tyler Goodrham pulled one back for the U’s with an effort through a crowd of bodies, but a late brace from a pissed off Matt Godden gave an emphatic gloss to the final scoreline.

The Opposition

The Manager – Des Buckingham

That defeat at the CBS Arena back in January was one of two thumpings that Des Buckingham endured in the early part of his reign at Oxford United that left him on the verge of the sack – the other being a five-goal defeat to Bolton Wanderers in March. Since then, Buckingham, a former academy player who retired young and has carved out a career in coaching via spells in India and New Zealand, has made rapid progress at the Kassam Stadium, whipping the team into shape for a successful play-off campaign in League One and starting the new season with a convincing win over a fancied Norwich City side.

Oxford United look a really slick, well-coached outfit under Des Buckingham, able to shut teams down with their off-the-ball shape before executing rapid attacking combinations to kill games off. Operating at one of the lowest-budgeted teams in the division, Buckingham and the U’s are going to need every bit of their manager’s nous to stay up. Fortunately, they look to have the perfect set-up for beating bigger teams looking to dominate the ball against them.

Who To Look Out For?

Oxford United have, for a quite a while, had a reputation in League One for being a place where technical players have tended to thrive. In Cameron Brannagan, Marcus McGuane, Ruben Rodrigues, and Tyler Goodrham, the U’s already had a core of skilful, nimble-footed creative operators who were worthy of the step up to the Championship. Their summer transfer business has been centred around injecting the team with the steel required to allow those technical players to shine at a higher level.

The addition of experienced Championship operator, Will Vaulks. in defensive midfield may well be their best piece of business this summer. In a team that is otherwise very physically slight, Vaulks combination of physicality and experience should allow the fancier players around him to get into games and thrive. In addition, the younger, but physical, defensive midfielder, Idris El Mizouni, is another who stiffens the spine of the team, along with experienced winger, Matt Phillips.

Oxford’s energy up front is a key part of their game, as they look to stop opposing teams playing out from the back with a very disciplined pressing system. The mobile and hard-working centre-forward, Mark Harris, perfectly embodies what Des Buckingham wants his team to execute, supported by Tyler Goodrham and Przemyslaw Placheta as the wide forwards and followed up by Cameron Brannagan and Ruben Rodrigues from midfield. In addition, there is express pace to introduce from the defence via recent loanees, Malcolm Ebiowei and Dane Scarlett.

At the back, Oxford tend to keep things simple, with two full-backs, in Joe Bennett and Sam Long, who tend to sit alongside the two giant centre-backs, Elliott Moore and Ciaron Brown, in a very disciplined back four. In goal, Jamie Cumming is an impressive young goalkeeper, but has tended to be well-protected by the work-rate and organisation of what goes on in front of him.

Where The Game Will Be Won Or Lost

Oxford United are perfectly capable of playing the role of party-pooper for an expectant crowd at the CBS Arena. A team that has shown they can completely shut down opponents looking to control possession, Coventry City are going to have to be prepared for an energetic and organised press from the U’s that could make it really hard to pass out from defence into the midfield.

Oxford tend to press with a narrow front three that cuts off the passing lanes from the centre-backs into midfield. Milan van Ewijk and either Jake Bidwell or Jay Dasilva could have an important role to play in this game in providing a wide passing option out from the back that can get around that press and look to take advantage of the inherent narrowness of Oxford’s set-up, looking to build overloads with their respective wingers out wide. In addition, Oliver Dovin’s ability to step forward from goalkeeper and act as another passing option could be valuable here, although carries the risk of him being caught off his line if Coventry City get sloppy on the ball.

Doubling up on Oxford United out wide could also be useful in stretching their flat back four, forcing them either to drop deep to try and soak up pressure or stretch them if they look to come out and try to stop the likes of Tatsuhiro Sakamoto, Haji Wright or Ephron Mason-Clark. Oxford are likely to be happy with inviting crosses, content with the ability of Ciaran Brown and Elliott Moore to head balls out of their box, with Will Vaulks there to tidy up any cut-backs, which will make the Sky Blues varying things up with occasional long shots valuable in unsettling Oxford’s settled defensive shape.