Looking to avoid a fifth consecutive loss, Barrow welcome Forest Green Rovers to Holker Street on Friday in round 42 of the 2021-22 League Two season.

On the other hand, the away side make the journey seeking to extend their run of matches without a defeat to six.

Match preview

Forest Green Rovers manager Rob Edwards celebrates after the match on March 20, 2022 © Reuters

Forest Green had to settle for a point last time out following a 1-1 stalemate against Hartlepool United on Saturday at the New Lawn Stadium.

Rob Edwards's men broke the deadlock eight minutes after half time through Regan Hendry before Omar Bogle restored parity to ensure a share of the spoils.

Nonetheless, the Green Devils still lead the way in the league standings after 40 matches, five points clear of nearest challengers Exeter City in second.

Coming up next is the challenge of a Barrow side with just one win in the last 11 meetings between the teams stretching back to 2012.

Friday's visitors have the best away record in the entire division and will back themselves to record another positive result on the road.

Josh Kay celebrates scoring for Barrow in the FA Cup on January 8, 2022 © Reuters

Barrow fell to a fourth defeat on the bounce courtesy of a 1-0 loss versus Crawley Town at the People's Pension Stadium on Saturday.

Kwesi Appiah's opener in the 57th minute saw Phil Brown's men come away empty-handed from what was a tight and cagey affair.

The Bluebirds are now outside the relegation zone only on goal difference and will need to turn things around in the final six games of the campaign.

Only Scunthorpe United have picked up fewer points on their own patch than Friday's hosts, whose last home triumph came back in December.

Barrow League Two form:

Forest Green Rovers League Two form:

Team News

Twenty-four-year-old Mathew Stevens was at the double in the reverse fixture and the forward is one to keep an eye on.

Jamille Matt hobbled off with a muscle injury 14 minutes into his side's last outing, making him a doubt for this one.

Ollie Banks has scored just once in his last 11 outings, and Barrow will need their leading goalscorer fit and firing again.

George Williams remains ruled out with a fractured collarbone which has seen the Welshman miss the last 29 matches.

Having both picked up nine yellow cards apiece, Patrick Brough and Josh Kay currently run the risk of a two-game suspension.

Barrow possible starting lineup:
Farman; Grayson, Canavan, Platt, Hutton; Beadling, Banks; Kay, Rooney, Gotts; Amadi-Holloway

Forest Green Rovers possible starting lineup:
McGee; Sweeney, Cargill, Taylor-Moore; Wilson, Hendry, Adams, Cadden; Aitchison, Matt, March

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We say: Barrow 1-2 Forest Green Rovers

Forest Green have been imperious away from home and are huge favourites to claim all three points. We fancy them to get the job done, albeit by only a narrow margin.

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 Forest Green Rovers win with a probability of 52.39%. A draw had a probability of 25.2% and a win for Barrow had a probability of 22.44%.

The most likely scoreline for a Forest Green Rovers win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.64%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (10.02%) and 1-2 (9.46%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.92%), while for a Barrow win it was 1-0 (7.52%). The actual scoreline of 4-0 was predicted with a 0.3% likelihood.