Shrewsbury vs Barnsley Predictions

Despite battling hard on Saturday, Shrewsbury come into this fixture off the back of a defeat. Try as they might, they couldn’t quite muster enough of an attacking threat against Sunderland at the weekend, so it’s now two league games without a win for John Askey’s men, who find themselves down in 18^th position. The hosts will be hoping to regain the winning thread when they welcome Barnsley to New Meadow on Tuesday evening.

Saturday saw the Shrews get themselves involved in another frustrating game, a game where they were far from completely outclassed, but they once again struggled to really stamp their authority. Failing to dominate Sunderland isn’t the end of the world, while the Shrews gave the Black Cats a better game than a lot of teams in League One have/will, though a lack of forcefulness in the final third ultimately cost them, which doesn’t exactly bode well ahead of a game against a side of Barnsley’s calibre.

As their record suggests, Shrewsbury are no mugs; they’re disciplined off the ball, work hard as a team and are anything but easy to get the better of. They’re conceding a very respectable average of just 0.86 goals per home match, though the problem is that they’re only scoring an average of 0.86. Barnsley may have lost at the weekend, but that should make them even more determined to deliver a performance here, so from an offensive point of view, it could be another lean night for John Askey’s men.

Like the hosts, Barnsley come here off the back of a defeat. Not only were the Tykes beaten at the weekend, but they delivered what was by far their worse performance on the season; however, they shouldn’t be judged too harshly. Even though they may be slightly less confident than they were previously, Saturday’s defeat will have undoubtedly focused Daniel Stendel’s side, who should have an easier task defensively against a Shrewsbury side that continues to struggle when it comes to scoring goals.

Overall, Barnsley have looked strong on their travels. They’ve scored the second most goals on the road, have conceded the second fewest, while they rank highly in terms of both expected goals for and against. From a quality point of view, the Tykes, with players such as Brad Potts, George Moncur and man-mountain Kieffer Moore in their ranks, aren’t lacking quality, especially in the final third, and it is that attacking quality that could be the difference against a Shrewsbury side that continues to be slack offensively.

At the weekend, Barnsley missed the presence of Moore, though with the striker, who has bagged seven goals in eleven league games this season, likely to return here, they should be far more threatening. What’s more, Shrewsbury are expected to be without their most creative player Shaun Whalley, which means that their threat is significantly lessened.

In truth, both Barnsley and Shrewsbury are useful at the back, so there may not be too much between the pair, though the visitors have that extra bit of quality, quality that has made the difference more often than not. It won’t be easy, but Barnsley are backed to resume winning ways by edging out a home side that is struggling to make their presence felt in the final third.