Oxford United v Swansea City: bottom-five clash with survival points at stake | OneFootball

Oxford United host Swansea City in the Championship on Monday, 29 December at the Kassam Stadium, with both sitting in the bottom five and desperate for points to push away from the relegation places.

Swansea won the reverse fixture 2-0 on 6 December. Since then, Oxford have steadied with a 2-1 Boxing Day win over Southampton after a run of three defeats in four, while Swansea's last five reads three wins and two defeats, including a 1-0 loss at Coventry in their most recent away game.

Gary Rowett is without Matthew Phillips, Ben Davies and Hidde ter Avest, all injured, which could thin Oxford's defensive options. Vitor Matos is missing Ricardo Almeida Santos and Adam Idah for the visitors.

Expect contrasting styles. Swansea average 55% possession with 81.13% passing accuracy and have kept five clean sheets, so they may look to control the ball and feed Zan Vipotnik, who has nine league goals. Oxford play with less of the ball at 43% possession but shoot often, registering 224 attempts with 39.29% accuracy. Set pieces could be a route in, given they have scored from dead balls this season, with Brian De Keersmaecker supplying four assists.

In the table, Oxford are 21st on 22 points and a win would take them to 25, strengthening their cushion above the bottom three. Swansea are 20th with 26 points. Victory would take them to 29 and could move them up the table while easing bottom-half pressure.