Friday’s Championship match sees Barnsley host Nottingham Forest. Barnsley are terrible at home whilst Forest are appalling on the road so this match is actually quite a tricky one to predict.
After being promoted from League One last season, Barnsley are doing surprisingly well this season and are currently 15th in the Championship. Additionally, they are on a four match unbeaten run, however, their last three matches have finished all-square.
Unfortunately Paul Heckingbottom’s team will not be able to keep their unexpectedly lofty position in the Championship if they do not improve on their home form. The Tykes have not won at Oakwell in six matches, keeping just one clean sheet. This is particularly concerning when you consider how vital home form can be to a team’s survival chances.
Goals are not a problem for the Yorkshire side with good strikers such as Sam Winnall and Adam Armstrong in the side. However, as demonstrated by their defensive record at home, they are not great at the back and have conceded 24 goals which is more than all but four of the nine teams below them.
Going up against a Forest side who pride themselves on their forward line could be difficult.
Forest had lost three of their last four matches before recording a surprise away win at Ipswich Town at the weekend. Many see the former European Cup winners as a team who should be in the Premier League, however, they have been far too inconsistent over the years for that. That inconsistency has spread over to this season with Forest unable to string a decent set of results together so far.
As mentioned previously, Philippe Montanier’s team are dreadful on the road and, prior to that surprise victory at Portman Road, had not won away from the City Ground all season, losing all but two of their matches. That win against a usually solid Ipswich would have given a confidence booster to the Reds but it must be said that Ipswich themselves have been pretty poor all season are only just above Forest in the league.
It is only because they have managed to sneak victories at home that Forest are not in the relegation zone. However, if they are not careful then they might be soon.
Although they score a high number of goals, Forest are terrible at the back, conceding 30 goals (the second worst in the entire division) whilst their only clean sheet this season came in that recent 2-0 win against Ipswich Town.
Overall, with both teams looking so poor, I think this could end up in a draw. There’s little to separate them in terms of form and this could easily turn out to be the case on the pitch. At 2/1, backing the draw is a good way to go here. I’m also liking the look of ‘Over 2.5 Goals & Both Teams to Score‘ here. With both of these defences looking so poor, neither side might not have to do too much to break the other down and thus a few goals are fancied.
See more tips here.