Charlton Athletic 4-0 Oxford United

Oxford crashed out of the League Cup with a miserable 4-0 defeat against Championship side Charlton. The scoreline was harsh on United, but Charlton were certainly the superior side. They took the lead after 18 minutes through Simon Church and added a further three goals after the break following a decidedly limp second-half performance from the yellows.

PREVIEW: Charlton Away, League Cup (06/08/13)

The season is barely a few days old but already the games are coming thick and fast. We've had just three days to bask in the glory of Saturday's impressive opening win, before kicking off our League Cup campaign away to Charlton.

Supporters are understandably in buoyant mood going into the match, but it goes without saying that an away trip to a Championship side will be no walk in the park. And whereas in previous years we've treated cup competition as of equal importance to the league, Chris Wilder's statement after the match on Saturday that he was looking to make some changes for this match perhaps suggests that the league campaign is our sole focus this term.

But with the development squad playing in a friendly at Didcot on Wednesday, changes are unlikely to be wholesale. Senior players who started on the bench on Saturday and possibly a couple of the younger players who are closest to the first team could feature in the starting XI at the Valley. Expect the likes of James Constable, Michael Raynes and Asa Hall to play some part.

Charlton will also be making several changes to the side which suffered opening day disappointment at the hands of Bournemouth on Saturday, with an eye on keeping key players fit for the visit of Middlesbrough next weekend. Former Dagenham midfielder Danny Green and 23-year-old Dale Stephens are likely to feature, while Amersham-born Simon Church could make his debut after joining Charlton from Reading in the summer.

The Addicks may well look at the cup as a good chance to recover from Saturday's disappointment, but their form against lower league sides in recent years has left many of their fans fearing an upset. Recent seasons have seen Charlton crash out of the League Cup at the hands of Wycombe, Luton, Yeovil, Hereford, Shrewsbury, Preston and Leyton Orient - an esteemed list indeed. Further hope can be taken from the fact that the Valley has hardly been a fortress of late, with Charlton winning just eight times at home in the league last season (with six draws and nine defeats) and their only home pre-season friendly yielding a defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The Valley will be a familiar hunting ground for Chris Wilder, who spent three games on loan at Charlton from Sheffield United in 1990 and 1991. Other than that, it's a step into the unknown for both clubs, with the last meeting between Oxford and Charlton coming in a 2002 League Cup fixture. On that occasion a drab 0-0 draw (a staple of the Ian Atkins era) was brought to life by a dramatic penalty shootout which ended with Jefferson Louis blasting Oxford into a third-round tie against Aston Villa. That victory was all the sweeter for being our first against Charlton since 1987 – 13 matches had passed in that time and we had lost the last seven of them consecutively. In fact, that win was our first ever at the Valley after 16 previous attempts.

From the Vaults

Charlton Athletic v Oxford United, 16^th August 1997

The yellows had made a good start to the 1997/98 season with 2-0 wins over Huddersfield and Plymouth in league and cup. But we soon came unstuck against Charlton, finding ourselves 2-0 down and effectively out of the match early in the second half. That sparked a horrible run of five defeats from six league games...let's hope history doesn't repeat itself!

You can find this and many other old OUFC matches in our NEW & IMPROVED VIDEO VAULT!

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On This Day - 20/01/88

With the snow obliterating our footballing plans this weekend we have to turn to the archives to get our football fix, and where better to look than to exactly 25 years ago today, when Manchester United came to the Manor for a League Cup quarter-final tie.

For Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson it was the first time he had brought a side to the Manor since his ignominious defeat in his first game in charge, but for the mighty yellows it offered the opportunity for another great cup night during a period when a distraction from the league was perhaps more welcome than it is today. Oxford were winless in ten league games coming into this match - in fact, we hadn't won a single match since defeating Wimbledon in the previous round. By contrast, we had only been beaten once during the previous three seasons in the League Cup and Wembley was again looking like a distinct possibility.

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MATCH REPORT: Leeds United 3-0 Oxford United

In the end it wasn't much of a contest. Oxford didn't play badly – though perhaps not quite as well as we are capable of – but were beaten by a team that was superior in every department.

PREVIEW: Leeds United Away, League Cup (28/08/12)

We've had some decent League Cup ties in the last few seasons, and this has to be up there with the best of them. A trip to Championship giants Leeds United was the reward for overcoming Bournemouth in the first round, and it will be the first time an Oxford side has travelled to Elland Road since a 1998 FA Cup match which ended in a 4-0 defeat.

MATCH REPORT: Oxford United 0-0 Bournemouth

Oxford kicked off their season in style with a tense victory over League One Bournemouth on penalties. It was a fairly even match with relatively few chances and both sides seemed happy to give their opponents plenty of time on the ball – something which always tends to benefit United’s style of play.

What the Stats Say...Cardiff

After providing a great stats package ahead of Saturday's opening day defeat to Rotherham, we again extend thanks to Matt Peck, who has dug out these stats on Oxford's League Cup record against Cardiff.