Sheffield Wednesday vs Oxford United Prediction

Right then, let's have a proper look at this basement battle at Hillsborough. Two teams struggling for form and points, but someone's got to nick something here, right?

Sheffield Wednesday are having an absolute nightmare of it. Rock bottom of the Championship with just 6 points from 10 games, and their home form is about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Zero wins in their last 7 at Hillsborough, and they're scoring a measly 0.29 goals per game on their own patch. That's not just bad, that's Championship relegation form right there. They got absolutely hammered 5-0 by Coventry at home recently, and could only manage one goal against Charlton in their last outing.

Oxford United aren't exactly setting the world on fire either, sitting 20th with 9 points. But they do look a bit more capable of getting results. They've picked up a couple of decent wins recently, including a smashing 3-1 away victory at Bristol City. Their away form shows they can grind out points on the road - 1 win and 2 draws from their last 5 away trips. Crucially, they're keeping things tighter at the back away from home, conceding just 0.80 goals per game on their travels.

The head-to-head doesn't make happy reading for Wednesday fans either. Oxford have won 3 of the 7 meetings between these sides, including the last encounter which finished 0-1. Wednesday have only managed 1 win in 4 home games against Oxford, so history's not on their side here.

When you look at the attacking stats, it's enough to make you weep. Wednesday are averaging 0.70 goals scored per game overall, but that drops to a pathetic 0.29 at home. Oxford aren't exactly free-scoring with 0.90 per game, but they look more likely to find the net than Wednesday do at Hillsborough.

The bookies have this as a proper 50-50 affair with both teams at 2.62, but given Wednesday's home form, that looks generous to me. This has all the makings of a tight, nervy affair where goals will be at a premium. Both teams have seen Both Teams Score in just 40% of their recent matches, which suggests plenty of low-scoring games.

Given Wednesday's inability to score at home and Oxford's decent away defensive record, I'm expecting a proper grind of a match. The sort where one goal might be enough to settle it, or we could be heading for a goalless draw that nobody really wants but both sides might settle for.