Barnsley vs Birmingham Predictions

• Barnsley are the fourth-best Championship team when it comes to shots at home.
• Barnsley are the fifth-best Championship team when it comes to shots on target at home.
• Birmingham rank in the bottom half for shots and shots on target and goals conceded away from home this term.

Oakwell provides solace

Barnsley are in an unflattering position and it’s fair to say, as they sit eight points from safety, they are in big trouble. However, that’s not to say they’re a terribly poor side at home. Gerhard Struber’s men have often found solace at Oakwell, where they’ve lost just one of their last seven, as well as just two of their last 10.

Defensively, even at home, the Tykes continue to come up short. They’ve kept just one home clean sheet this term, while they’ve also conceded the most home goals in the division. That doesn’t mean they’re weak going the other way.

Barnsley are, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, the sixth-highest home scorers in England’s second tier. They’ve notched a very respectable 25 goals, scoring two or more on seven occasions. They also rank highly when it comes to both shots and shots on target taken.

Blues moving forward

It’s not been a season void of complications, but Birmingham have started to make progress under Pep Clotet, especially in recent weeks. Tuesday’s visitors come into this match having lost none of their last five, while they’ve won each of their last two, scoring five goals in the process. Their win at Ashton Gate, which is no easy place to go, on Friday night was particularly pleasing.

In the final third, things have been going well for the Blues, who’ve found the net in each of their last eight, scoring two or more in five of those eight. One problem remains, though, and that is they cannot keep teams out. Birmingham have conceded at least once in each of their last 18 Championship matches. On the road, they’re without a clean sheet since September.

Attacking joy for the hosts?

As touched on above, Barnsley are seemingly drifting towards the division they fought so hard to leave less than 12 months ago, but they’re not going down without a fight, especially at home, where they can certainly hurt teams. In the betting, ‘Barnsley to Score Over 1.5 Goals’ stands out. Barnsley have scored no shortage of goals at home this term, while they continue to perform well in terms of shots and shots on target.

In fact, they’re in the top six in both those areas, averaging 15 shots and 5.07 shots on target per game. Such numbers bode well ahead of a clash against a Birmingham side that struggle to keep teams out and that have performed reasonably poorly in terms of shots, and shots on target conceded away from home.

‘Correct Score’ punters might like to try a 2-2 draw. Barnsley have shown enough to suggest they can do well offensively, but their defensive weakness doesn’t point towards a home win. After all, Birmingham have been no weak team in the final third of late. The Blues have drawn four of their last eight on the road, while Barnsley have drawn seven time at home this season, three of which have ended 2-2.