Barnsley vs Brentford; Sky Bet Championship
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Barnsley vs Brentford. Sky Bet Championship.
Oakwell StadiumAttendance12,188.
Barnsley vs Brentford preview: Championship clash live on Sky Sports Football
Watch live on Sky Sports Football from 1pm on Sunday; kick-off is at 1.30pm
Sunday 29 September 2019 13:36, UK
Barnsley face Brentford in the Sky Bet Championship on Sunday. Coverage gets underway live on Sky Sports Football from 1pm, while kick-off is at 1.30pm.
Team news
Barnsley will make a late decision on defender Bambo Diaby for Sunday's Sky Bet Championship clash with Brentford. Diaby has missed the last three games after damaging an ankle against Luton last month, but the 21-year-old has stepped up training this week and is in contention to return.
Fellow centre-back Aapo Halme should be available after coming off injured during the 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest last week. Full-backs Dimitri Cavare and Ben Williams, who serves the last match of a three-game suspension, remain out as Barnsley seek a first win since the opening day of the season.
Brentford's visit could see the return to Oakwell of Ethan Pinnock. The London-born defender played a key role in Barnsley's promotion from League One last season before completing a £3m move to west London.
Injured Danish defenders Mads Bech Sorensen and Luka Racic are again the only absentees from the Bees squad. Brentford have scored only five league goals this season and Greek striker Nikos Karelis is pushing for a first start after coming off the bench against Stoke last weekend to make his debut.
Recent form
Barnsley won their opening game of the season against Fulham, but are still waiting for the elusive second and sit third-bottom of the Championship as a result. Despite their low budget and youthful squad, however, they've not disgraced themselves and are yet to lose by more that a two-goal margin. Many feel they should have taken at least a point in last weekend's 1-0 defeat at Nottingham Forest, while Marcelo Bielsa praised the Tykes after Leeds' 2-0 win at Oakwell on 15 September.
Brentford's form doesn't read much better. They went into the international break buoyed by a comprehensive 3-0 victory at home to Phillip Cocu's Derby but have since lost to Preston and played out a dreadful 0-0 draw against Stoke. What's more, they've only scored in three of their eight league games to date.
The managers
Barnsley first team coach Chris Stern: "It's the simplest way to win points and to win the games, but it's the hardest thing in football - scoring goals. We are aware of the issue but we are working every day, working hard in training to increase our chances of becoming more ruthless in front of goal.
"We're creating the chances now and I think that was clear in the last two games, particularly against Nottingham [Forest] last weekend. It wasn't our best start in that one but after half-an-hour, 35 minutes I think we took over the game and played how we wanted to, creating many opportunities but again we didn't have the quality to score the goals.
"We can only keep on trying and then hopefully things will click for us in front of goal and then we will be on our way and getting the points that these sort of performances deserve."
Brentford boss Thomas Frank: "We are in a spell where it's just not 100 per cent clicking but we need to keep doing what we do, keep believing in what we are doing and then get the points. We know we will hit a higher level - we saw it against Derby. We know we can get up there.
"We are going into a big week and we are looking forward to that. But we need to start with Barnsley first and make sure we do everything we can to get three points and we know that will not be easy. I know they have five points but their performance against Nottingham Forest, they should definitely have got more out of that game."
Talking point - Goal-shy Brentford faltering
The defensive solidity Thomas Frank's men are displaying this season is unheard of in west London. Marshalled by skipper Pontus Jansson, Brentford have already kept three clean sheets and conceded an average of just one goal a game across their other five fixtures, but they are stuttering in front of goal.
As expected, selling star striker Neal Maupay to Brighton in the summer has had adverse effects. Winger Ollie Watkins has managed to score four goals, but until the end of August, when Greek international Nikos Karelis joined on a free transfer, the club didn't have a recognised striker on its' books. As a result, the aforementioned stats do not lie: the Bees have scored five league goals, but they've only been scored in three of eight league games.
Jansson even summarised it well himself: "The [number of] goals we're conceding is promotion numbers, but the [number of] goals we're conceding are relegation numbers," he told West London Sport after the stalemate with Stoke.
Latest highlights
Opta stats
Barnsley haven't won back-to-back league matches against Brentford since April 2003.
Brentford are winless in four away league visits to Oakwell against Barnsley (W0 D3 L1) since winning 2-0 in April 2004.
Since beating Fulham on the opening weekend, Barnsley are winless in their seven Championship games (D2 L5).
Brentford have lost their last three away league games, last losing four in a row in March 2016.
Barnsley (4) and Brentford (5) are the two lowest scoring sides in the Championship so far this season. However, only Swansea (5) and Leeds (4) have conceded fewer than Brentford (6).
Ollie Watkins has scored 80 per cent of Brentford's Championship goals this season (4/5), the highest ratio in the division.
David Prutton's prediction
Barnsley fans would have been hoping it would be different for them this time in the Championship, but it is looking like it will be another season of struggle. They have scored fewer goals than any side in the Championship and have notched just once in their last five games.
Live EFL
Brentford's results haven't been much better. They can't seem to score either, although they don't concede too many at the other end. I think this could end goalless.
David Prutton predicts: 0-0 (12/1 with Sky Bet)
