Barnsley vs Nottingham
25th November 2016
19:45
Oakwell
19:45
Oakwell
England Championship
As a Friday evening fixture in the Championship, Philippe Montanier’s Nottingham Forest travel to the Oakwell Stadium to play Paul Heckingbottom’s Barnsley. It’s sure to be a close game as both games will be battling to move away from the relegation zone. Barnsley are fifteenth with twenty-two points, while Nottingham Forest are three places and points below, at eighteenth. Although they’re close to their opponent, only three points stand between them and a slip into the dropzone, so they’ll be fiercely pushing for a positive result.
After impressing after some stints as caretaker manager, Paul Heckingbottom took charge of Barnsley as permanent manager in the summer. They’ve moved into the Championship since, after finding promotion from League One through the play-offs last season, with Heckingbottom helping the Tykes to a stable league position. They are currently fifteenth and look strong enough to survive a return back down to the league below, six points safe from the dreaded relegation zone. Returning to the Championship after two years, Barnsley played their first game as a disappointing 4-2 defeat to Ipswich Town before going on to win five of their next six league fixtures, proving to other sides in the division that they would be anything but pushovers. The Tykes haven’t much luck since though, winning only one more game and finding their only skill has been to hold other sides of a similar level to draws.
Their last game had them playing at home to struggling Wigan Athletic, who have been stuck in the bottom few places for most of the season so far. It was important they got a positive result after drawing their last two fixtures and failing to win for their last three. Both sides were displaying some exciting moments of attacking play on their opposition but they were unable to finish, looking equally matched and struggling through 90 minutes of constant deadlock. The best chance came from Andy Yiadom, who put a cross into the area, meeting the head of Sam Winnall, who headed just wide of Adam Bogdan’s goal.
Following an impressive run as Rennes manager last season in French Ligue 1, Philippe Montanier wanted a new challenge, taking on the role of Nottingham Forest manager in the summer. Their first game was full of drama as they lost their early lead against Burton Albion but still managed to come out of the game with all three points after a three crucial second-half goals. They currently have five wins and four draws from their opening seventeen games, looking tough enough to remain in the division but still stuck with the worry of the dropzone, as only three points save them. The Tricky Trees suffer from an inconsistency which could end up being the reason for their downfall, usually winning a game impressively then failing to follow it through with a second victory.
Before their most recent league fixture, they hadn’t won for four games, three of which were defeats. Philippe Montanier’s side were playing Ipswich Town, who had started the season hopeful of a push for a play-off place before falling down to scarily low positions. Forest started the game looking instantly revitalised, running at Ipswich’s defence from kick-off, forcing their opposition defenders into mistakes and opening up the play for Ben Osborn to thread a pass through to Britt Assombalonga, who forcefully netted past Bartosz Bialkowski. Ipswich’s best attempt came when a Tom Lawrence back-heel cleverly set up David McGoldrick, who had his shot on goal stopped by a confident Vladimir Stojkovic between the sticks. The Tricky Trees put the game to bed in the dying seconds of the first half though, where Ipswich’s defence looked shaky, leaving a free header for Assombalonga, who headed the ball low into Bialkowski’s net to complete a brace.
LAST TIME OUT
Barnsley 0-0 Wigan
As expected, these two sides saw a boring game on Saturday which Barnsley dominated, but culminated in a 0-0 draw. Barnsley managed 15 attempts on goal throughout the match and Wigan barely six. Despite this, and the 62% possession Barnsley enjoyed, the home team failed to make their chances count. Therefore, Barnsley saw themselves held to a draw in a game they really should have won and missed out on three points that they should have picked up.
Ipswich 0-2 Nottingham Forest
Nottingham picked up their first away win of the season as they travelled to Ipswich for a game they were not expected to win. However, they rose from relegation contenders to a safe 18th place due to a result they achieved, but heavily undeserved. Ipswich dominated the game, with 65% possession and nine shots on goal. However, two first-half goals from Britt Assombalonga, in the first and 45th minute sealed a good victory for Forest.
TEAM NEWS
Sessi D’Almedia is the only player unavailable for selection as he is currently injured and has been since August with a knee injury. Adam Hammill and Josh Scowen are both just one yellow card away from suspension.
Nottingham Forest
Matty Fryatt and Dani Pinillos are both out with long term injuries and Hildeberto misses the game for due to picking up too many yellow cards this season. Pajtim Kasami is one yellow away from suspension also and will be looking to be on his best behavior.
KEYS TO THE GAME
Can Barnsley recover their home form?
Barnsley have been struggling at home as of late, drawing their last two games and not having won since seven games ago, at the end of August. They drew 0-0 with Wigan last time out and struggled to a 2-2 draw against Bristol before that. They have also suffered a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle, a 4-2 loss to Fulham, a 2-1 defeat to Reading and 1-1 draw with Aston Villa, since they last won at home against bottom placed Rotherham. They will hope to pick up their form as they host Forest on Friday night.
Will Forest turn their season around?
Nottingham Forest were expected by many to be promotion candidates at the start of the season but currently find themselves in a disappointing 18th place, dangerously close to the relegation zone. This drop has been down to their woeful run of form, finding just two victories from their last 13 games. They started the season well, dropping just six points from their opening seven games and looking like a definite title contender before a 4-0 defeat to Arsenal in the League Cup sent their season spiraling out of control.
One to watch: Britt Assombalonga
Despite a woeful season for the club, Britt Assombalonga has been a shining star for Forest. In just eight games he has managed six goals, including two in their most recent outing at Ipswich. The Congolese striker is highly rated and the ex-Watford player will be looking to keep up his good form and threaten the Barnsley defence on Friday night.
PREDICTION: Barnsley 1-1 Nottingham Forest
Barnsley haven’t looked strong enough in recent weeks to grab the win they need here and Forest’s 2-0 win at Ipswich should provide them with enough motivation to grab at least a point on Friday night.
