Oxford United vs Sunderland postponement latest as early inspection takes place at Kassam Stadium
Sunderland’s FA Cup fourth round clash with Oxford United could still be in doubt hours ahead of kick-off.
As posted to X by The Northern Echo’s chief sports writer Scott Wilson just before midday on Sunday, referee Thomas Kirk has been down to assess the playing surface at the Kassam Stadium.
Wilson reports that the pitch is ‘playable’ as things currently stand, but warns that it probably won’t be able to take much more rainfall before kick-off if the game is to go ahead.
This won’t be the news that Sunderland supporters will want to hear after making the long trip down this morning, with Wilson’s post also stating that the forecast for the surrounding area is ‘dreadful’.
There is stated to be ‘patches’ of the Kassam pitch over by the touchline that are already fairly soaked, and so it remains to be seen whether FA Cup football will be played in Oxfordshire this Sunday.
What is the Met Office forecast for Oxfordshire saying?
The very last thing Regis Le Bris‘ team needs is a postponement of Sunday’s FA Cup fixture against Oxford, as they head towards a crucial run-in of their Premier League season.
Sunderland scraped past Everton on penalties in the third round back on 10 January, and are still harbouring dreams of a date at Wembley come 16 May.
The Black Cats are two-time winners of the famous old competition, but haven’t lifted the trophy since the 1972-73 season, with their other win coming all the way back in 1937.
However, they may be forced to wait a little bit longer to see if they will be making it through to the fifth round of this season’s competition.
According to the latest Met Office weather forecast for Oxford on Sunday afternoon, it is forecasted to keep raining right up until the 2pm kick-off time.
At 12pm it was marked with a 95 per cent chance of rain, which does drop down to 60 per cent come 1pm and further still to 40 per cent at 2pm.
Therefore, with Wilson already stating that he doesn’t believe the Kassam pitch can take much more rainfall before kick-off, the referee may well have to make a call soon.
- Read more: Trai Hume is being hung out to dry by Regis Le Bris, Sunderland’s defeat to Liverpool showed that
Sunderland’s recent head to head record vs Oxford
If the game does indeed go ahead on Sunday, then Sunderland will be confident of a win over the Championship relegation-strugglers.
However, the conditions could force the game to become a scrappy, old-school FA Cup affair, and that may just suit the U’s down to the ground.
And it was Oxford who have the most recent bragging rights over the Black Cats, with a 2-0 win over Le Bris’ boys in the Championship on 26 April 2025, which was the last time the two sides met.
Prior to that game though, Sunderland had not lost to Oxford in six-straight meetings, dating back to February 2020 with a 1-0 away win in League One.
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