A place in the final of the National League playoffs will be on the line Saturday when Barnet host Solihull Moors at the Hive Stadium.
The Bees earned an automatic place in this round after finishing second in the domestic campaign, defeating Kidderminster Harriers 4-1 on their final matchday, while Solihull beat Halifax Town 4-2 this week to advance into the playoff semi-finals.
Match preview
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A late surge from Barnet down the stretch of the domestic campaign has them two victories away from earning EFL status for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign.
Dean Brennan's men went unbeaten in their last eight domestic affairs, fast-tracking them beyond the playoff quarter-finals and earning 86 points domestically in 2023-24, more than in any of their previous five National League campaigns.
While it was not looking great for them to begin 2024, losing four successive domestic affairs, they were able to rally a few months ago, suffering just three domestic defeats since the start of February.
Barnet will fancy their chances of advancing, given that this match takes place on their home ground, where they have claimed at least a point in six successive league contests, earning maximum points in five of those encounters.
The Bees have not been behind in any of their last three National League affairs and have only lost once in this competition all year when scoring the opening goal.
They are unbeaten in their last four matches versus Solihull in this competition, netting an equaliser in the seventh minute of stoppage time when they last hosted them in October 2023.
The Moors made the most of their home-field advantage Wednesday, going up by three goals before the interval and winning a third successive encounter at Damson Park.
Since the beginning of February, they have only suffered one defeat in all competitions away from home but have dropped seven points on the road in the National League this year when drawing first blood.
Saturday will be their second appearance in the National League playoff semi-finals over the past three campaigns, with Solihull advancing beyond this stage in 2021-22 thanks to a victory over Chesterfield FC but losing the final to Grimsby Town.
Andy Whing's men have not lost in 2024 when scoring the opening goal since squandering a 2-0 advantage in the second half of their New Year's Day affair with Chesterfield (3-2).
A victory this weekend would earn them two upcoming matches at Wembley, one being the National League playoff final, while they have already booked a place in the FA Trophy final by defeating Bromley 2-1, earning them a date with Gateshead next month.
Solihull Moors have not beaten Barnet away from home since September 2022 (2-0), though they have only lost one of their last five visits to the Hive Stadium.
Team News
There were two new faces in the Barnet starting 11 for their final encounter of the National League campaign last Saturday as Idris Kanu and Luke Freeman replaced Callum Stead and Gatlin O'Donkor.
Kanu scored his seventh of the campaign in that encounter, with the other strikes coming courtesy of Freeman, Nicke Kabamba and Danny Collinge.
In their playoff with Halifax Town in midweek, one change was made to the Solihull starting 11 with Joe Sbarra coming into the fold in place of Nana Boateng, while on the bench, we saw the return of Mark Beck and Kyle Morrison, along with Jon Benton with the latter entering as a substitute.
Goals from Tahvon Campbell, Jack Stevens, Jamey Osborne and an own-goal from Tylor Golden powered them to a comfortable victory in their quarter-final playoff victory.
Barnet possible starting lineup:
Keeley; Cropper, Collinge, Okimo, Coker; Gorman, Hartigan; Kanu, Freeman, Stead; Kabamba
Solihull Moors possible starting lineup:
Hayes; Benn, Clarke, Whitmore, Newton; Osborne, Maycock; Shade, Stevens, Labadie; Boateng
We say: Barnet 1-0 Solihull Moors
Six of the last seven times these sides squared off, the final result was either a draw or a one-goal victory and with the stakes so high, we could see a similar situation on Saturday.
Ultimately, we believe that Barnet's home field and overall attacking quality will enable them to move a step further toward a potential promotion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joel Lefevre
