Championship | Gameweek 10

Oct 19, 2024 at 12.30pm UK

The Kassam Stadium

Oxford Utd vs West Brom

Match preview

Despite finishing 15 points off the automatic promotion spots in League One for the 2023-24 season, Oxford United are back in the Championship for the first time since 1999 following their play-off success in May, and Saturday's hosts have made a positive start to their return to the second tier.

After three successive away defeats to Coventry City, Blackburn Rovers and Bristol City in August and September, the U's bounced back before the October international break, picking up points at home to Luton Town and League One champions Portsmouth.

In a game overshadowed by a racially-charged incident, Oxford's Louie Sibley scored his first goal for the club since his summer move from Derby County, the 23-year-old equalising for the visitors at Fratton Park after Mark O'Mahony's opener.

Des Buckingham's side entered the two-week break with three draws to their name and currently sit 10th in the Championship, four points adrift of Watford in the play-off places and five points above Queens Park Rangers in the relegation zone.

Having scored just 11 goals in three seasons in the second tier for Cardiff City, Mark Harris is enjoying his time in the top flight after a year in League One, with the Wales international scoring four goals in 10 Championship appearances so far this season.

After a sensational six-match unbeaten run at the start of the 2024-25 Championship campaign, West Bromwich Albion have gone on a three-match winless run, with Saturday's visit to Oxford the only home game they have won in the run-up to the international break.

A second-half strike from England Under-21 star Hayden Hackney earned Middlesbrough maximum points at The Hawthorns on 1 October, and four days later the Baggies were unable to overcome a struggling Millwall side who escaped the Black Country with a point after a goalless draw.

West Brom's collapse in results before the two-week break has seen them drop from first to fourth in the Championship ahead of this weekend's short trip to Oxfordshire, although Carlos Corberan's side are just two points behind leaders Sunderland and Sheffield United.

With a number of first-team stars leaving the club over the summer, youngster Tom Fellows has stepped up to the plate for the Baggies with five assists, and the 21-year-old is arguably the club's greatest academy product since Saido Berahino over a decade ago.

In contrast to last season, West Brom have been ruthless on the road so far in 2024-25, taking nine points from four games away from The Hawthorns, giving Corberan's men the best away record in the Championship ahead of this weekend's clash.

Recent Performance

Oxford United Championship form:WWLDDD

West Bromwich Albion Championship form:WWWLLD

Injuries and suspensions

Oxford United

7 Przemyslaw Placheta

West Bromwich

12 Daryl Dike

Possible starting lineups

Oxford United possible starting lineup:

Cumming; Kioso, Long, Leigh, Brown; Vaulks, Dembele, Rodrigues, El Mizouni, Goodrham; Harris

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:

Palmer; Furlong, Ajayi, Bartley, Heggem; Molumby, Mowatt; Fellows, Swift, Johnston; Maja