Carlisle United must defy the odds against promotion-chasing Oxford United this afternoon.

The fifth-placed visitors are odds-on to leave Brunton Park with all three points.

Des Buckingham's U's are 4/5 with Betfred and SKyBet for victory, and 10/11 with Betfair and Coral.

Paul Simpson's Carlisle are 10/3 with Bet365 to chalk up an important win in their fight for League One survival against the manager's former club, with odds of 3/1 offered by SpreadEx.

The draw is 27/10.

Luke Armstrong is set to make his home debut today and the new Carlisle striker is 17/2 to get the first goal of the game.

Joe Garner is 9/1, Sean Maguire 10/1 and Ryan Edmondson also 10/1 for the opener.

Mark Harris, who got the winner for Oxford when the teams last met, is 6/1 favourite to get the game's first goal, with team-mates Ruben Rodrigues 13/2, Billy Bodin 15/2, Cameron Brannagan 15/2 and Tyler Goodrham 8/1.

Longer shots for the first goal in a blue shirt include Jordan Gibson at 16/1, Taylor Charters at 25/1, Harrison Neal at 28/1 and Jack Robinson at 50/1.

Carlisle's last home win over Oxford came in October 2014 when Derek Asamoah fired the Blues to a 2-1 win.

A similar scoreline this afternoon is priced 12/1.

Oxford's last visit to Brunton Park brought a 2-0 win in 2016 and the U's are 8/1 for a repeat today.

Carlisle are 11/1 for a 1-0 win and 15/2 for a second consecutive 2-1 defeat.

A goalless draw has odds of 10/1 with a 1-1 draw priced 6/1.

Source: Oddschecker.