Barnsley will be looking to pick themselves up in their quest to nail down a place in the playoffs when they travel to Huddersfield Town on Wednesday evening.
The Tykes suffered a shock 2-0 loss at Coventry City on Sunday to remain sixth, while Huddersfield strengthened their survival hopes with a win by the same scoreline at Nottingham Forest.
Match preview
© Reuters
Valerien Ismael's side have been in exceptional form since the end of January, winning 11, drawing four and losing just two of their last 17 league matches.
However, Barnsley's loss at St Andrew's Stadium at the weekend, combined with a point for Reading against Cardiff City, leaves them looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack.
Only Reading, Cardiff and Millwall can catch Barnsley in the final playoff spot, though the Royals - four points worse off - are the Tykes' only realistic concern.
The defeat against Coventry ended a club-record run of six successive away league victories, and Ismael will now be after a swift response from his side.
Huddersfield, by comparison, are winless in five at the John Smith's Stadium, having drawn four in a row on home soil before losing 2-1 to Bournemouth last week.
© Reuters
The Terriers followed up that loss with a 2-0 victory at Forest on Saturday, however, to move eight points clear of the relegation zone with four games to go.
However, that gap could potentially be just two points should 22nd-placed Rotherham United win their two games in hand.
Carlos Corberan's side could do with getting another win on the board to all but secure safety, but they have only won back-to-back matches on two occasions this season.
Town were beaten 2-1 by Barnsley in December's reverse match at Oakwell, meanwhile, and are aiming to avoid three losses in a row in this fixture for the first time since 1999.
- D
- D
- L
- D
- L
- W
- W
- L
- D
- W
- W
- L
Team News
© Reuters
Huddersfield are light in terms of attacking options after losing Fraizer Campbell to injury against Forest at the weekend.
The one-time Manchester United striker joins Yaya Sanogo on the sidelines, although the latter does have a slight chance of playing a part on Wednesday.
Josh Koroma is the most likely contender to lead the line, however, while Rarmani Edmonds-Green may also come into the side at right-back.
As for Barnsley, Herbie Kane is not quite fit enough for a place in the side. Liam Kitching and Ben Williams are the visitors' other two injury absentees.
Dominik Frieser is among those in contention for a recall on the back of the loss to Coventry, possibly at the expense of Cauley Woodrow.
Defender Michal Helik scored twice for Barnsley in their Boxing Day win over Huddersfield - the last Tykes player to score in both league games against the Terriers in a season was Mike Sheron in 1999-00.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Schofield; Edmonds-Green, Keogh, Sarr, Toffolo; Bacuna, Hogg; Holmes, O'Brien, Rowe; Koroma
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Collins; Andersen, Helik, Sibbick; Brittain, Palmer, Mowatt, Styles; Chaplin, Dike, Frieser
We say: Huddersfield Town 0-2 Barnsley
Barnsley will be eager to show that their loss to Coventry was just a blip, having won their previous six away matches before the trip to St Andrew's.
Like their opponents, Huddersfield are also in need of a victory, but they have not won back-to-back matches since early December and we cannot see that changing here.
Top tip
Daniel Lewis
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 43.94%. A win for Huddersfield Town had a probability of 28.57% and a draw had a probability of 27.5%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barnsley win was 0-1 with a probability of 12.61%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.64%) and 0-2 (8.45%). The likeliest Huddersfield Town win was 1-0 (9.64%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.9%). The actual scoreline of 0-1 was predicted with a 12.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 0-1 win for Barnsley in this match.
