- Oxford are in the Championship for the first time since 1999
- There were 78 goals in Norwich’s 23 away games last season
- Recommended bet: Both teams to score

Oxford are back in the second tier for the first time in 25 years and they will be hoping to get what is expected to be a difficult season off to a promising start against Norwich.

The Canaries were demolished by Leeds in their Championship play-off semi-final in May, but they are expected to push for promotion again in 2024-25 and new boss Johannes Hoff Thorup will be aiming to hit the ground running on Saturday.

Team news

Oxford could hand a number of their summer signings a competitive debut, with Jamie Cumming, Peter Kioso, Idris El Mizouni, Louie Sibley, Jack Curry, and Przemyslaw Placheta all set to be called into action.

Norwich will be pleased that Josh Sargeant is fit, while new signings Ben Chrisene and Jose Cordoba could both feature and Adam Idah has returned from his loan spell at Celtic so is available.

The stats

Oxford's last campaign in the second tier in 1998-99 ended with relegation after they finished second-bottom.

Last season Norwich had a poor away record with only five sides performing worse than them on the road overall.

The Canaries managed just three clean sheets away from home last season.

Oxford have scored in 10 of their last 11 competitive home games.

Prediction

It has been 25 years since Norwich last visited Oxford and, while a 4-2 thriller in the Canaries' favour, which is how it finished in 1999, is not expected this time, both defences could struggle again on Saturday.

Norwich were in the promotion picture as they came sixth last season, but a 4-0 hammering at Elland Road in the Championship play-off semi-final highlighted some key issues.

They finished last term with what was worryingly only the 19th-best away record, conceding 42 goals in 23 games to leave them with the second-worst defensive record in he whole division on the road.

New manager Thorup will be hoping to improve that aspect, but they have conceded in their last five pre-season friendlies and face an Oxford side who know how to find the net.

Last season’s League One play-off winners scored 23 goals in their final 11 home games on their way to promotion last term and failed to find the net in just one of those games.

They should be confident of getting on the scoresheet against a visiting side that shipped 21 goals in their final 10 on the road, although keeping the promotion-hungry Canaries out at the other end is a different matter.

Back both teams to score at 7/10 with LiveScore Bet.