Cambridge United’s final outing of the Sky Bet League One season sees them travel to the Pirelli Stadium this weekend to take on Burton Albion…
How to Watch
Saturday’s crunch match-up in Burton upon Trent, which gets underway at 3pm, is set to be played out in front of another strong away following. Supporters who wish to join them can buy from the ground on the day.
Those who are unable to attend can back the boys from home via their CUFC TV account. Overseas supporters can stream the game live, whereas UK U’s can tune into audio commentary.
Opposition Focus
Founded back in 1950, the former non-league outfit have rose through the ranks within the past few decades and have not looked back ever since they reached the Football League in 2009. Enjoying rapid progression, Burton Albion have ascended as high as the Championship in 2016, where they spent two seasons. Part of the third tier furniture, years of stabilisation with rankings of 16th, 16th and 15th was creditable, but they left it late to seal safety last time out. The arrival of Chelsea development squad boss Mark Robinson was an exciting one in the summer, but the inability to click meant the hierarchy pulled the trigger and opted for Gary Bowyer’s wealth of experience in December. The Brewers remain in the relegation dogfight once again, but with form partially picking up, the challenge of beating the drop crucially remains in their hands.
Requiring time to pick up steam following a transitional transfer window, the hosts failed to find victory in their opening 13 matches, with a similarly testing winter lodging them deep in the bottom four. Nonetheless, from late December they picked up five wins, six draws and just two defeats to breathe life into their season. Most recently, maximum points has been more frequent, with three triumphs from seven – their last being a comprehensive 3-0 turnover of Huddersfied Town, where they’ve since backed it up with a stalemate against Exeter City and a brave 1-2 defeat against champions Birmingham City. With back-to-back games at the Pirelli ahead of them, which includes a precious game in hand, the side in 20th lead the race against Bristol Rovers, Crawley Town and Cambridge – a win could well be enough to confirm a seventh year at this level.
Lining up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that offers defensive solidity and attacking width, it’s dependable Australian Max Crocombe who has been the mainstay between the sticks – his 12 clean sheets have helped churn out the points. A progressive back three usually consists of Udoka Godwin-Malife, defensive heartbeat Ryan Sweeney and Jack Armer, who previously plied his trade with Carlisle United. Options in the middle of the park are Kegs Chauke, loanee Dylan Williams, whilst Owen Dodgson has been a creative spark down the left and 21-year-old former Chelsea man Charlie Webster an industrious figure. Bowyer has an array of final third attackers to choose from, such as Swede Julian Larsson, John McKiernan and top scorer Rumarn Burrell, who after impressing in Scotland has bulged the onion bag 10 times, with Fabio Tavares and the experienced Jon Dadi Bovarsson handy assets to bring off the bench.
Form Guide
- 01/04/2025 – Burton Albion 2-1 Leyton Orient – Sky Bet League One
- 05/04/2025 – Wrexham 3-0 Burton Albion – Sky Bet League One
- 12/04/2025 – Burton Albion 3-0 Huddersfield Town – Sky Bet League One
- 18/04/2025 – Exeter City 0-0 Burton Albion – Sky Bet League One
- 21/04/2025 – Burton Albion 1-2 Birmingham City – Sky Bet League One
The Amber Angle
An agonising afternoon at CB5 last time out meant that the U’s were unable to make ground on their relegation pack rivals as play-off chasing Leyton Orient came from behind to secure a 1-2 victory.
Buoyed by over 7,400 fans - their highest home gate thus far - the hosts were treated to an extremely organised first half of football where Cambridge made their only notable opportunity count as Josh Stokes kick-started and concluded a counter-attack for his eighth of the season. However, the O’s attacking prowess proved their worth as the division’s leading goalscorer levelled matters on 66 before Spurs loanee Jamie Donley’s stunner helped take the points back to London.
Dissecting the slender defeat, Neil Harris said: “As much as Orient are a really good side, and a real difficult team to press, for all the ball they had I never felt like they were going to score a goal against us… I’m so disappointed today, it’s such a big opportunity missed to close that gap. My job’s to pick the group up, I need to pick myself up first, because I’m absolutely gutted, but we know what we have to do next week.”
As a result, it leaves his side’s survival hopes hanging by a thread but, as reiterated by the Head Coach, they’ll continue to fight until the final kick. With the five-point gap from safety retained, it’s a must-win for the U’s, whereas they will need results to go their way in order to keep the battle going into the final day.
Form Guide
- 01/04/2025 – Cambridge United 2-2 Wrexham – Sky Bet League One
- 05/04/2025 – Shrewsbury Town 0-1 Cambridge United – Sky Bet League One
- 12/04/2025 – Cambridge United 0-1 Charlton Athletic – Sky Bet League One
- 18/04/2025 – Huddersfield Town 1-2 Cambridge United – Sky Bet League One
- 21/04/2025 – Cambridge United 1-2 Leyton Orient – Sky Bet League One
Head-to-Head
- Burton Albion Wins: 7
- Cambridge United Wins: 8
- Draws: 6
Last Time We Met
Saturday 26th October 2024 – Cambridge United 1-0 Burton Albion – Sky Bet League One
Minds need to be casted back six months ago for the last meeting between the sides, as the U’s edged out the Brewers 1-0 thanks to a late showing to stretch their winning streak to three league matches – a feat they are yet to record since. The hosts remained in control during the early stages and were resolute defensively whenever Burton asked questions, but just when a share of the spoils looked the likely outcome substitute Jordan Cousins fired home from close range seven minutes from time. The line-up on that afternoon: Reyes, Okedina, Morrison, Andrew, Bennett, Smith, Digby, Brophy, Kachunga, Njoku, Nlundulu.
Officials
- Referee: Will Finnie
- Assistant Referee: Declan O’Shea
- Assistant Referee: Danny Jarvis
- Fourth Official: Scott Oldham