Two sides on pretty good runs of form recently come head-to-head in one of Tuesday’s Championship fixtures as Barnsley host Wolverhampton Wanderers at Oakwell.
Barnsley have managed to sneak up to seventh in the table and are currently just one point off the play-off places, despite only being promoted from League One last year. The Tykes won their last two league matches to extend what has been an excellent record of just one defeat in their last seven Championship games.
Paul Heckingbottom’s side had certainly prioritised attack over defence in the early half of the campaign, as proved by the fact they scored 47 – the joint second highest in the league – yet conceded a rather alarming 41 – the fourth worst in the division. However, they have shown in recent matches against Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United that they can keep clean sheets and record victories in less emphatic fashion.
The Tykes have been fantastic at home in the last few matches and have won three of their last four Championship matches at Oakwell. Additionally, their attacking strengths have certainly been on display in front of a home crowd, scoring at least two goals in six of their last seven matches.
Paul Lambert has taken Wolves from a team looking over their shoulders at the relegation zone to one looking ahead of them and possibly thinking they can make a push for the play-offs. Lambert’s men caused one of the biggest shocks of the FA Cup fourth round over the weekend as they claimed victory away at Premier League title challengers Liverpool, extending their record to three wins in their last four matches in all competitions.
Much like Barnsley, Wolves had also made defence a secondary thought when Lambert initially arrived; however, they are now keeping clean sheets – three in their last four matches before their victory against Liverpool – and recording important victories.
Wolves have been much better away from home than they have at home this season, and particularly in recent weeks, having suffered just one defeat in their last five matches away from Molineux in all competitions which included shock FA Cup victories at Premier League sides Stoke City and Liverpool.
Although I have mentioned how both of these sides have learned how to keep clean sheets, I doubt this will be a low-scoring affair as they both really only know one way to play – attack. Additionally, both teams have scored in all but one of Barnsley’s last six matches. With the attacking quality of both in mind, ‘Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals’, at 21/20, is the way to go here.
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