This weekend we head into week two of the Championship season and Barnsley play their first home game of the campaign against Ipswich. Both teams come here on the back of opposite results in their opening games, and Barnsley especially will be desperate to win this game.
Ipswich will have hopes of a mid-table finish, while Barnsley are relegation candidates, with Barnsley being at home that makes these two pretty even heading into this one. That should make for a good game and both teams have players capable of scoring goals in their team so we should see some goals.
Barnsley Form
Barnsley were disappointing on the opening day of the season. They lost 3-1 away at Bristol City, a game in which they were 3-0 down after just 30 minutes. Defensively they had a very disappointing game, something they will have to put right if they are to survive in the Championship.
They did win during midweek in the League Cup, although they struggled to beat Morecombe, who play two leagues below them. Barnsley won a seven goal thriller 4-3, but were only rescued by a late winner from Ryan Hedges.
In their opening two games, Barnsley have conceded six goals, if that trend continues they will certainly be relegated this season, they have a lot to work on. This game is one that they can get something from, although they face a defensively solid team in Ipswich.
Ipswich Form
Ipswich began their campaign with a 1-0 victory over Birmingham at home last Saturday. They started poorly in that game, before coming good in the second half to take the lead and hold on to it. What we do know about Ipswich is that they are defensively solid, and they brought that to the game last Saturday, something which makes them hard to bead.
During midweek, they again kept a clean sheet as they bet League Two Luton 2-0. While Ipswich did make a few changes for this game, four of the seven changes were forced due to injury, so we may so a similar team play in this one that played during midweek.
After two clean sheets in a row, Ipswich will arrive at Oakwell confident that they can keep another clean sheet and they will set up to do just that, hoping to attack on the break.
Team News
Barnsley played a strong team in their midweek cup game, which makes me think that we will again see a similar team in their game against Ipswich. Their squad isn’t that deep, and with many changes being made over the summer, finding a balance with their squad is going to be tough and something they need to get right.
Ipswich made seven changes on Tuesday night for their League Cup game, although four of those were due to injury. Jordan Spence, Grant Ward, Tommy Smith and Joe Garner all go into this weekend as doubts because of their injuries so predicting the Ipswich starting line-up is going to be tough.
Top Betting Tips
After an opening day defeat, Barnsley will be hoping they can change their fortunes when they face Ipswich at home. They look set for a tough relegation battle this season and points on the board from home games will be vital to their chances. I don’t expect to see them win many away games, but home games are their chance to survive in this league.
A solid home win last weekend started the campaign off very well for Ipswich. They are a very organised team, who are defensively very strong and that can be seen in their two clean sheets from two games so far. I expect to see them continue that today, and they will try and hit Barnsley on the break to nick a goal or two in this one.
This game should be close and Barnsley will be looking to pick up their first points of the season. I think they will get something, but only a draw from the game and I am going to back the draw, which is available at 2/1 with Ladbrokes. Barnsley will need to be better defensively if they are to get something, but I think they can be.
Home games will be very important for Barnsley this season and games like this one are where they need to pick up their points. I think Ipswich will be happy to take a draw from the game, and with their strong defensive set up, that looks to be the most likely outcome in this on.