Macclesfield Town v Oxford United Betting Tips

Friday’s televised FA Cup match sees non-league Macclesfield Town take on League One Oxford United.

Macclesfield got to this stage by dispatching League One Walsall 1-0 away at the Banks’ Stadium in what was arguably the biggest shock of the First Round.

In the league, The Silkmen sit 11th in the table after 21 games with 34 points. The nine-point gap between them and the play-offs will probably be too much to make up whilst the gap towards relegation is also large enough to not be a worry. It looks like we will probably be seeing Macclesfield stay in the National League for another season.

Since that win against The Saddlers at the start of the month, Macclesfield have done relatively well. They did lose their first game to title challengers Forest Green Rovers but then recovered to record a victory away at Aldershot Town before securing a draw up at Gateshead.

Defensively, Macclesfield are a pretty strong outfit – conceding on average just once per game. They also have five clean sheets to their name. Their goals against column is up there as one of the best in the league with just three teams conceding fewer.

Unfortunately, going the other way has been a bit more difficult for John Askey’s side with just 28 goals scored. Plenty of teams below them, even ones in the relegation zone, are around that sort of mark.

Moss Road has not been a good place for them in recent weeks with Macclesfield having taken just one point from a possible nine.

Additionally, The Silkmen have not played a match since the 22nd November (10 days) and so it will be interesting to see whether that lack of playing time has allowed them to fully focus on this big FA Cup tie or whether it means they are a bit out of practice.

Oxford were ruthless in their last FA Cup match as they dispatched another non-league side (albeit lower in the pyramid) in the form of Merstham by a 5-0 scoreline. Since then they have had a rather hectic schedule having played in five matches. Although they lost the two subsequent games after that victory at Merstham, Michael Appleton’s men have now had a revival with no defeats in their last three matches with two of those ending up in Oxford victories. This puts The U’s up to 14th in the table which may not sound too impressive but, when you look at how tight League One is at the moment, you will notice they are only three points off the play-off spots. Oxford were looking nervously over their shoulder a few weeks ago but there is now no reason why they cannot push for that precious sixth place.

Whilst all of this sounds good, their form away from their home ground of the Kassam Stadium has been poor with their last league win being a victory over Bolton Wanderers over two months ago. The U’s have lost eight out of 14 away matches in the league this season – hardly ideal preparation going into a pressurised FA Cup tie.

With their Football League status, Oxford are the clear favourites here, however, I am not entirely convinced by their chances. First of all, it is worth pointing out that this game has been televised for a reason – the broadcasters are expecting a shock. This may well happen on Friday.

Remember last season when Salford City shocked League Two Notts County in front of the BBC cameras before drawing against Hartlepool United in the next round – again in front of the cameras. Before that we also had Blyth Spartans secure a draw, again against League Two Hartlepool United.

Whilst Oxford are a division above those teams, Macclesfield are a good side, as they proved in the match against Walsall, and I think they could do a job on an Oxford team who carry with them a terrible away record.

With this in mind, ‘Macclesfield Win/Draw Double Chance’, at 13/10, looks a good bet. It is fairly rare to find good value on the double chance market, so I would certainly take advantage of this here.

Furthermore, it is also worth noting that Oxford have never won away at Macclesfield despite playing there eight times.

If you are less convinced by non-league Macclesfield then I would look at ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score’ at 11/8. With this likely to be played in front of a very atmospheric crowd, I think we should have a good game here – one that is full of chances for both teams and so the chance to take home a decent profit on what is quite a simple bet is irresistible. Additionally, it also allows great flexibility on the result.

See more tips here.