The prolific Gary Smart in action at Filbert Street

The third of three successive away fixtures is a second visit of the year to the Kingpower Stadium, where United will face a revitalised Leicester City side while still hoping to emulate last season’s 2-1 victory.

This is just the second time that the U’s have visited the Foxes’ new stadium, so there’s a 100 per cent record that needs maintaining. Unlike at Leicester’s previous stadium, Filbert Street, where Oxford managed just two wins in 14 visits, of which four were draws.

The first two trips to Leicester both ended in defeat. In January 1961, Southern League side Oxford United, in their first season under that name, visited Filbert Street to take on top-flight Leicester City in the third round of the FA Cup. Despite Tony Jones’ goal, the U’s were defeated 3-1 by a Foxes side that would go on to reach the cup final, where they were beaten by double-winning Tottenham Hotspur.

The sides’ first league meeting came in the second tier in November 1969, when a John Shuker strike wasn’t enough to prevent a 2-1 defeat. The teams crossed swords again in the FA Cup fifth in February 1971, when a Dick Lucas goal was enough to secure a 1-1 draw and bring the Foxes back to the Manor for a replay, which City won 3-1 after extra time.

Six weeks later, United picked up their first point in Leicester when they fought out a goalless draw in Division Two. Another third round FA Cup tie followed in January 1975, when Derek Clarke’s goal was a mere consolation in another 3-1 defeat.

The next time the teams met, in October 1985, they were both in the top flight. In a topsy-turvy 4-4 draw, Oxford’s goals came from a John Aldridge brace, plus strikes by John Trewick and Andy Thomas. The following season, Leicester won 2-0 in December 1986.

Just under a year later, the teams met in a League Cup third round replay, with United coming out on top 3-2 to chalk up their first win in Leicestershire. City went 2-0 up in the first half, but a second-half comeback with goals from Dean Saunders and Gary Shelton (2) earned the U’s a place in the fourth round.

After various fruitless visits to Filbert Street (with the exception of a goalless draw in October 1989), Oxford finally won again in Leicester, on their last visit to the stadium, in November 1993. Again United had to overcome a half-time deficit, but goals from Nick Cusack, Anton Rogan, and Alex Dyer gave them the 3-2 victory for their first away win of the campaign.

Last season, which ended with both sides eventually relegated from the Championship, it was all Oxford. It was January of this year and Sam Long gave the U’s an early lead. This was doubled in the second half by Mark Harris and, despite a late City goal, the Yellows hung on to earn an ultimately fruitless three points.

The Match

United go into this game having suffered their first league defeat under Aaron Ramsey, going down 3-1 at Huddersfield Town on Tuesday. That match saw an Oxford United debut for Coventry loanee Kai Andrews and a first Football League appearance for academy wunderkind Leo Snowden, who both came off the bench in the second half. Snowden’s run and cross set up fellow academy product Gatlin O’Donkor for United’s equaliser, but unfortunately the side were unable to prevent the Terriers from scoring two late goals.

Reports suggest that goalkeeper Jamie Cumming might be fit to resume duties between the sticks after he had to go off injured just seven minutes into United’s 2-1 win at Stevenage, with old stager Simon Eastwood deputising in the interim.

However, Aidomo Emakhu is likely to be out for another couple of weeks, while Jeon Jin-Woo and Ruben Roosken are still at least a month away from returning to active duty. Oxford do have another iron in the fire, though, following the arrival on loan of luscious Luka Lynch, a well-regarded winger from Aston Villa. He is unlikely to be thrown in at the deep end, but we could well see a cameo off the bench for lovely Luka.

While it appears that Aaron Ramsey has no hesitation in changing his starting line up depending upon the opposition and other factors, like any manager, he would also want the team to start gathering some consistency, so there are unlikely to be too many changes to the first XI. We might see Michał Helik return to the defence after a bit of a shaky performance by the otherwise ever-steady stalwart Sam Long, while there are suggestions that Andrews’ arrival could lead to a change of shape, with three out-and-out midfielders instead of a #10 behind the striker. That could signal a spell on the bench for Tyler Goodrham.

The other question marks are whether Peter Kioso or Brodie Spencer will be preferred at right back; will Mo Missanga retain his starting place on the right wing; and has Gatlin O’Donkor done enough in Ramsey’s eyes to replace Harris in the starting line-up. It will also be interesting to see who loses his place on the bench following Lynch’s arrival.

Leicester have strengthened considerably during the transfer window, bringing in three players on deadline day alone, including former U’s favourite John Lundstram. Possibly the most significant new face is striker Emil Riis from Bristol City, while Warren O’Hora also joined from Hibernian on the final day of the window. Over the summer, the Foxes signed another Yellows old-boy: Wes Burns.

However, those foxy Foxes will be without first-choice goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk, whose season might well be over following an injury he received at Plymouth on Tuesday. They will also be lacking the talismanic Oliver Skipp, who serves the final game of his suspension after he was shown a straight red card in City’s home defeat to Burton Albion.

It’s still far too early in the season to have any idea how the league table is likely to look by Christmas, never mind in May, but popular opinion has Leicester as one of the main favourites for promotion. It would be a rash person to bet against them, for sure, but despite shedding many of their former overpaid Premier League stars and bringing in players proven at Championship level, it’s possible that the rigours of League One football might prove a tougher challenge than expected for the Foxes.

United will go into the game in relatively decent nick, despite the recent losses of Stan Mills and Brian De Keersmaecker, to Preston North End and Bristol City respectively. They were undoubtedly two of the more talented players in the Oxford squad, but also it would seem two of the more disruptive, and their departure should do more for team harmony than any pep talk in the dressing room.

The end of the transfer window means that Ramsey now knows what he has to work with for at least the next four months (possibly longer if the transfer embargo isn’t lifted in January). This will give him and the coaching staff plenty of time to work on team shape, tactics, and identity (whatever that is). Early signs are promising, if not mind blowing, and if the side can stop conceding possession as cheaply as they did at the Accu Stadium (that’s Huddersfield’s ground, in case you were wondering), then there is certainly reason for cautious optimism, even with the embargo in place.

Not bringing in too many new players does mean that there won’t be any problems with the squad gelling, as everyone should already be well aware of their colleagues’ strengths and weaknesses, while Leicester may have to work things out on the fly for the next few matches.

Our prediction, you ask? Nah, we’ve been burned too many times! We do reckon it will be an entertaining game, and there should be goals at both ends. But that’s as far as we’ll go with this one, thankyouverymuch.