Bolton Wanderers and Barnsley will both continue to search for their first victory of the season on Tuesday as the EFL Cup officially gets underway.
Both teams picked up a point in their respective opening fixtures on Saturday and each team will be looking to go one better as they collide for the first time since 2018.
Match preview
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Bolton Wanderers left it late to secure a point in their first game back in League One as Amadou Bakayoko found the back of the net in the 95th minute to help his team pick up a point in a six-goal thriller.
Ian Evatt will have been pleased with the performance of his squad on the opening day of the season, which was in keeping with the way the Trotters have been playing in pre-season.
Bolton actually head into this EFL Cup fixture on a nine-game unbeaten streak which dates back to the final day of last season when they defeated Crawley Town 4-1 to earn promotion.
Pre-season has been an impressive period for Evatt's men which has seen the squad pick up four victories and three draws, scoring 12 goals in the process.
However, the Wanderers will need to take that goalscoring form into the meeting with Barnsley if they want to improve on their EFL Cup journey from last season, which saw them defeated at home by Bradford City in the first round.
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Barnsley almost copied Bolton in securing promotion last season, but ultimately fell short in the Championship playoff semi-final as Swansea City earned the right to play at Wembley Stadium with a 2-1 aggregate victory.
Despite that, the Tykes have also had an impressive pre-season by picking up two victories and a draw, with their only defeat coming at the hands of Premier League champions, Manchester City.
New manager Markus Schopp joined the club at the end of June and he immediately put his own style into the team which was evident in their league opener against Cardiff City.
The two sides battled to a draw on Saturday with Toby Sibbick's 69th-minute strike levelling up the game to secure a point to get the season underway.
Barnsley impressed in the EFL Cup last year picking up victories against Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough, though they were sent crashing out of the competition at the hands of Chelsea in the third round.
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Team News
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Bolton Wanderers will have no concerns in front of goal in this game with natural finisher Eoin Doyle leading the line and the likes of Bakayoko and Antoni Sarcevic behind him.
The game could also provide an opportunity for former Huddersfield Town and Sheffield Wednesday star Elias Kachunga to make his first start for the club after signing a two-year deal recently.
Xavier Amaechi also joined Bolton in the summer on a loan deal from Hamburg and he could be in contention for a place in the team, with another new signing Josh Sheehan having got himself on the scoresheet against Cardiff.
Barnsley have strengthened throughout the summer and several of those new faces could be in contention to feature in this fixture, with Josh Benson having appeared as a substitute against Cardiff, with the pressure of replacing Alex Mowatt remaining high.
Sibbick will look to retain his place at the back, especially after scoring Barnsley's first goal of the season, while there could also be more minutes for Jasper Moon and Clarke Oduor after they impressed coming off the bench on Saturday.
Experienced striker Cauley Woodrow will be hoping to find his first goal of the campaign as he will likely lead the line, aiming to top the 14 goals he scored last season.
Bolton Wanderers possible starting lineup:
Gilks; Jones, Baptiste, Johnston, John; Sheehan, Williams; Bakayoko, Sarcevic, Kachunga; Doyle
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Collins; Sibbick, Helik, Kitching; Brittain, Palmer, Benson, Oduor; Morris, Frieser, Woodrow
We say: Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Barnsley
Both Bolton and Barnsley have plenty of confidence heading into this fixture which should lead to an exciting cup tie, but with the Trotters having a real goalscoring threat, they should be able to just edge this game.
Despite playing one league below, the team has got a lot of confidence and plenty of momentum coming from the promotion which could snowball into this cup fixture.
Top tip
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 Barnsley win with a probability of 42.45%. A win for Bolton Wanderers had a probability of 32.23% and a draw had a probability of 25.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barnsley win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.45%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.93%) and 0-2 (7.05%). The likeliest Bolton Wanderers win was 1-0 (8.03%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.97%).
