Two teams facing relegation to League One will lock horns for a huge Championship contest on Monday afternoon, as Barnsley welcome Peterborough United to Oakwell.
The home side are currently bottom of the table, 10 points behind 21st-placed Reading with a game in hand, while Peterborough occupy 23rd spot, nine points from the Royals on the same number of games (42).
Match preview
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Barnsley took the lead at Swansea City on Friday, with Claudio Gomes making the breakthrough in the 54th minute of the contest, but Olivier Ntcham levelled the scores 10 minutes later, and the strugglers were ultimately made to settle for a share of the spoils.
The result has left Poya Asbaghi's side bottom of the table on 30 points, 10 points behind 21st-placed Reading with a game in hand, so it is going to take a monumental effort to stop them being relegated to the third tier.
Barnsley will take on Huddersfield Town and Blackpool in their two matches after this one before finishing the month at home to Preston North End; their final game of the season will then come against West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns on May 7.
The Tykes finished fifth in the Championship last season, ultimately losing to Swansea in the playoffs, but they now face relegation back to League One after back-to-back campaigns at this level.
Barnsley have the third-worst home record in the Championship this term, picking up just 22 points from 20 matches, but they will be welcoming a Peterborough side that have collected only nine points from their 21 league fixtures on their travels.
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Peterborough, meanwhile, will enter Monday's contest off the back of a 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on Friday, with Sammie Szmodics and Jack Marriott netting late to turn the match around.
The visitors have won two, drawn two and lost just one of their last five league games, which has moved them onto 31 points, but they are still nine points behind 21st-placed Reading on the same number of matches (42).
Peterborough will play twice at home and twice away before the end of the campaign, visiting both Barnsley and Millwall, in addition to welcoming Nottingham Forest and Blackpool.
The Posh were promoted back to the Championship by finishing second in League One last season, and they are facing an immediate return to the third tier of English football.
Grant McCann's side still have enough time to escape the relegation zone; there is no question that the visitors will need to win on Monday, though, and they have lost three of their last four league matches against Barnsley, including a 2-0 defeat last time out at Oakwell in December 2018.
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Team News
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Barnsley will again be missing Aapo Halme, Michal Helik and Bradley Collins on Monday through injury, but the home side do not have any fresh fitness concerns.
Cauley Woodrow was back on the bench on Friday after a period on the sidelines, featuring for the final 16 minutes, but he is unlikely to be considered for a start in this match.
Head coach Asbaghi could ultimately decide to make just the one change from the clash with Swansea, introducing Callum Styles in a wide position for Romal Palmer.
As for Peterborough, Joe Ward is available following a suspension and is widely expected to return to the starting XI for Monday's relegation six-pointer.
The Posh will still be without Dan Butler, Oliver Norburn and Steven Benda through injury, but the team have no fresh fitness concerns from their win over Blackburn.
Marriott netted off the bench against Rovers and is now in contention to start, with the 27-year-old potentially taking the place of Ricky-Jade Jones in a forward area.
Barnsley possible starting lineup:
Walton; Brittain, Andersen, Kitching, Vita; Gomes, Wolfe; Styles, Bassi, Quina; Morris
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Ward, Edwards, Kent, Burrows; Taylor, Fuchs; Poku, Szmodics, Marriott; Clarke-Harris
We say: Barnsley 1-2 Peterborough United
A draw is useless for both sides, which should create an open affair on Monday afternoon. Both teams will need to open up in search of the victory, and we have a feeling that Peterborough will do enough to shade a close match.
Top tip
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 54.63%. A draw had a probability of 23.7% and a win for Peterborough United had a probability of 21.64%.
The most likely scoreline for a Barnsley win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.32%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.8%) and 2-1 (9.76%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.27%), while for a Peterborough United win it was 0-1 (6.52%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with a 3.2% likelihood. Our team at Sports Mole correctly predicted that Peterborough United would win this match.
