Preview: Peterborough United vs. Barnsley - prediction, team news, lineups

Peterborough United will be attempting to maintain pressure on the League One leaders when they host Barnsley for their final game of 2023 on Friday.

The hosts currently sit in second place, while the visitors are just outside the playoff positions at the moment.

Match preview

© Reuters

Peterborough United have been thriving this season, which is why they head into the final game of the year sitting in second position.

The hosts have entertained fans with their attacking football, as no team in the division has scored more goals than them so far this season.

However, their two goals in midweek was not enough to secure them all three points as they were surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw against Reading, who are sat in the relegation zone right now.

Darren Ferguson's men let a lead slip twice in that game, which is something that they will be looking to put past them on Friday.

Another draw or loss against Barnsley could lead to them dropping out of the automatic promotion spots depending on other results, which places pressure on the team for this match.

© Reuters

The visitors will certainly be capable of causing problems in this game because they are just outside the playoff positions right now.

Barnsley are undefeated in their past six League One matches, which has allowed them to climb up the division to cause problems for those at the top of the division.

A victory on Friday could not only push them into the playoffs, but it could take the team as high as fourth position depending on how other results go this week.

The Tykes will want to showcase a stronger defensive setup in this match, though, considering they almost let a three-goal lead slip during their most recent outing.

Barnsley did manage to cling on and defeat Port Vale 3-2, but the fact that they let their opponents into the game after being in cruise control is a situation that Neill Collins will want to see fixed.

Team News

© Reuters

Ricky-Jade Jones has scored five goals so far this season, and even though he failed to find his mark in midweek it is expected he will lead the line gain.

A 4-3-3 formation is how Posh should lineup, which is how Ferguson has been pushing them this season to create so many attacking problems.

John McAtee has now scored three goals in his previous two games for the visitors, which makes him a real threat heading into Friday as he is expected to lead the line.

Meanwhile, there will be pressure on Luca Connell in the central defensive midfield role in this match considering the attacking qualities of Barnsley's opponents.

Peterborough United possible starting lineup:

Bilokapic; Burrows, Knight, Edwards, Kioso; Collins, Kyprianou, Randall; Mason-Clarke, Poku, Jones

Barnsley possible starting lineup:

Roberts; Williams, De Gevigney, McCart; Styles, Kane, Connell, Phillips, O'Keeffe; McAtee, Cole

We say: Peterborough United 2-1 Barnsley

Both teams are flying right now at the moment in League One, and that should lead to a fantastic match between them on Friday.

While Barnsley will be sure to provide tough competition, the attacking quality of the hosts should just edge things.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.