Barnsley play Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday night as two sides who are struggling for form attempt to turn their seasons around.
Barnsley are still searching for their first Championship win of the season after a draw with Millwall at The New Den. At the same time, Queens Park Rangers and Birmingham City extended their winless league runs as they played out a goalless draw at Loftus Road.
Match preview
© Reuters
This weekend, Barnsley announced the arrival of new manager Valerien Ismael, who has signed a three-year deal at the club.
Ismael watched on as the Tykes were able to take the lead away to Millwall through a thunderous 25-yard strike from Alex Mowatt, but they were unable to make the advantage count as they conceded minutes later.
A point was enough to keep Barnsley above the bottom three on goal difference, and they will now hope that through Ismael's experience, they can get their season back on track.
Looking beyond the visit of QPR, the Tykes will welcome Watford, before trips to Cardiff City and fellow strugglers Derby County, where they will certainly be looking to pick up points.
Barnsley have now drawn four and lost three, but will be hoping they can recreate a similar performance to when QPR last visited Oakwell when they ran out 5-3 winners in a memorable victory.
© Reuters
Queens Park Rangers extended their winless league run to six matches as they played out a drab goalless draw against Birmingham City at Loftus Road on Saturday, with both sides unable to muster a shot on target.
Mark Warburton's side won on the opening day of the season but have since endured poor Championship form, drawing four and losing two of the next six games.
Warburton will have been pleased with his side's ability to keep a clean sheet; however, the fact that it came against a Birmingham side who have only scored three goals so far this season must be duly noted.
QPR will now look ahead to this game as the perfect opportunity to bounce back to winning ways, as they are currently teetering in 16th place and could easily be dragged into the relegation zone.
Barnsley Championship form: LLDLD
Barnsley form (all competitions): LLDLDD
Queens Park Rangers Championship form: WLDDDD
Queens Park Rangers form (all competitions): WLDDDD
Team News
© Reuters
Adam Murray was forced to make two late changes as striker Cauley Woodrow and defender Jordan Williams dropped out less than 10 minutes before kickoff on Saturday.
Ismael will have to assess their fitness ahead of Tuesday's game and could stick to like-for-like replacements in Conor Chaplin and Clarke Oduor, who started on Saturday.
Mark Warburton will be pleased to have Lyndon Dykes back in the starting lineup, and he will be expected to start again on Tuesday, providing he does not experience any fresh injury setbacks between now and then.
Warburton could also welcome back Tom Carroll after he was rested on Saturday. Albert Adomah could make way for Carroll, meaning that Bright Osayi-Samuel will revert to the right-hand flank, with Carroll on the left.
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Walton; Brittain, Andersen, Helik, Odour; Palmer, Kane, Mowatt; Thomas; Chaplin, Frieser
Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:
Dieng; Kakay, Dickie, Barbet, Wallace; Amos, Cameron; Osayi-Samuel, Dykes, Bonne, Carroll
We say: Barnsley 1-0 Queens Park Rangers
We do not see many goals in this one, and it could be either a moment of brilliance or a lapse in concentration that decides it. We are backing Barnsley under new management to shade this one, which will see them draw level on points with the R's.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:dataData Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Barnsley win with a probability of 40.59%. A win for Queens Park Rangers had a probability of 32.53% and a draw had a probability of 26.9%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barnsley win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.94%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.52%) and 2-0 (7.31%). The likeliest Queens Park Rangers win was 0-1 (9.55%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.76%). The actual scoreline of 3-0 was predicted with a 3.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Barnsley would win this match.
