Barnsley play host to Wycombe Wanderers on Wednesday evening looking to improve on a run of three defeats from four games in the Championship.

Meanwhile, the visitors, who remain in the relegation zone, have now failed to win any of their last six fixtures in the second tier.

Match preview

Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael pictured in October 2020 © Reuters

Valerien Ismael has had a respectable start as Barnsley boss, claiming 15 points from his opening nine matches to keep the club away from the bottom three.

Nevertheless, three defeats over a short period of time, the latest coming by a 4-0 scoreline at home to Bournemouth, may lead to a re-think for the Frenchman.

His side have gone five matches without scoring a goal during the opening 45 minutes, something which is putting increasing pressure on the defence to shut out the opposition.

Conceding an early strike against the Cherries eventually led to their opponents running riot, the match being over as a contest by the 52nd minute.

A home fixture with Wycombe is arguably the perfect fixture to produce a response, but another game without success will see enthusiasm levels at the Yorkshire side begin to wane.

As long as they remain within touching distance of safety, that will not be the case at Wycombe as they bid to stay in the second tier against all the odds.

The Chairboys have now gone six matches without success, with only a late own goal preventing them from recording an impressive win at Preston North End on Saturday.

Although Gareth Ainsworth would not have been too critical of his players, the narrow margins between survival and relegation can be decided on matches such as the one at Deepdale.

On the plus side, Wycombe scored twice in a match for just the second time this season, and that will need to become a regular occurrence if they are to get themselves out of trouble.

Barnsley Championship form: WWLLWL

Wycombe Wanderers Championship form: LDDDLD

Team News

Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth pictured in September 2020 © Reuters

Wycombe are expected to be without Anthony Stuart, meaning that Andre Burley could be handed an opportunity at centre-back.

Matt Bloomfield may return in the centre of the pitch, although a change will only be made if Ainsworth feels that fresh legs are required.

Ismael will almost certainly make alterations to his Barnsley XI, with Aapo Halme in line to be handed a recall to the defence.

Matty James could get the nod over Herbie Kane in midfield, with Dominik Frieser a likely addition further forward.

Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Walton; Andersen, Halme, Sollbauer; Brittain, James, Mowatt, Styles; Frieser; Woodrow, Chaplin

Wycombe Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Grimmer, Burley, Knight, Jacobson; Horgan, McCarthy, Bloomfield; McCleary, Akinfenwa, Kashket

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We say: Barnsley 2-0 Wycombe Wanderers

While both teams head into this contest in poor form, this game is set up perfectly for Barnsley to return to winning ways. The Tykes have had extra time to reassess their strategy after the defeat to Bournemouth, and we feel that the home side will record a convincing victory.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win 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.

Data 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 Wycombe Wanderers win with a probability of 37.14%. A win for Barnsley had a probability of 35.14% and a draw had a probability of 27.7%.

The most likely scoreline for a Wycombe Wanderers win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.13%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.95%) and 0-2 (6.77%). The likeliest Barnsley win was 1-0 (10.76%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.08%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with a 7.7% likelihood.