How can the U's beat Colchester

The U's have gained 4 points from the opening 3 games. A great home win on the opening day was cancelled out by a poor Swindon performance and a game of 2 halves on Saturday which resulted in a disappointing 1-1 draw against Harrogate Town. So far the U's are keeping the lion's share of possession in each of their games, with an average of 57.6%. However the U's are only having 4.1 shots of target on average and will need to improve in order to make the possession count. Having scored 4 goals with an xg of 4.1, the U's are creating good and high quality chances but aren't having enough of these moments to kill a game off. With 7 big chances across the 3 games the finishing and decision making needs to be improved in order for the U's to pick up all 3 points. Appere has been on form but the defence has been poor and without a solid defence the U's will struggle. The U's have the lowest tackles won per 90 in the entire league with 6. This has to drastically change as I'm sure it will with a winning manager such as Neil Harris. This being said, the U's are ranked 9th in possessions won in the final third which shows the hunger for defending from the front.

As for Colchester they are sat 10th and undefeated in the opening 3 games. 2 draws and 1 win sit them just above midtable. The Cowley's have done well since joining and with a recent win against Shrewsbury Town will lift their spirit levels. They have a good ability to go long completing 26% of their long balls so far. They will avoid crossing the ball from wide positions due to the height of Watts and Jobe. This being said, they only achieve 3.3 accurate crosses per 90 so they will look to cross from deep and play through United instead. Only creating 3 big chances across just over 270 minutes of football should fill the U's backline with confidence. They are a well oiled defensive machine having conceded 0.7 goals per game so far and are performing well by many metrics.

However, Colchester United give up a lot of chances with a conceded xg of 5.1. This sits them 5th in League 2 compared to the 1.9 for Cambridge United. This matched with the U's pressing high could cultivate in some quick transitions for players such as Brophy, Knight, Kaikai and Appere to capitalise on. They aren't an aggressive team, only committing10.7 fouls a game which sits them 23rd in the league which can allow physical presences such as Ball to have a greater impact on the game.

Credit: ColU_Official on X