Football betting tips: EFL
1pt Barnsley to be relegated at 250/1 (bet365)
BARNSLEY are a bit of an enigma under Connor Hourihane.
Up until recently, they topped League One’s charts for goals per game. They still top the charts for most goals conceded in the division (64).
They’ve only kept two clean sheets all campaign but scored in 75% of their league matches.
The Reds were the division's entertainers and in the opinion of their gaffer a side with a real identity.
Personally, I struggle to fathom exactly what this identity is.
Throughout the season, Hourihane has tinkered with formations, personnel and style of play.
He’s experimented with wingers up front, holding midfielders on the wing, central midfielders at full back or on the wing, wingers at full back and centre backs at full back.
Some of Hourihane’s decisions have been odd but injuries and player sales haven’t helped him either.
Barnsley lost their top goalscorer Davis Keillor-Dunn to Wrexham in January. He’d netted 13 goals for the Reds and gave their attack some balance, the fact he’s only played 64 Championship minutes for the Welsh side since leaving Oakwell must sting…
After he left, David McGoldrick picked up the goalscorer mantle. The veteran frontman had only netted twice before Keillor-Dunn’s departure, he’s netted 13 since but it looks like he is running out of steam.
The 38-year-old has played every minute of Barnsley’s last eight games and started each of their last 15.
In the 3-0 defeat against Plymouth, McGoldrick looked like he’d run out of gas. Hardly surprising.
The issue is, Barnsley only have two strikers in their squad and the other one is 33-year-old Tom Bradshaw and he’s just coming back from a knock.
Considering their tired frontline and lack of depth, it shouldn't shock you to learn the Reds have failed to score in two of their last four games, and with the goals drying up, the lack of clean sheets becomes a real issue.
Barnsley are now winless in six games (D4 L2), they’ve only won 13 all campaign but eight of those victories came before Christmas.
Saturday’s defeat against the Pilgrims leaves Barnsley five points and seven places above the drop with seven games to go.
Although four sides get relegated from League One, realistically, it is only Exeter who could catch the Reds.
Barnsley have three games in hand on the Grecians and a slightly kinder schedule.
Hourihane’s side have the bottom three to play and four sides chasing the play-offs. Three of Exeter’s four games come against sides chasing the play-offs.
- Barnsley's fixtures: Rotherham (A), Port Vale (A), Bradford (H), Stevenage (A), Luton (A), Northampton (A), Stockport (H)
- Exeter's fixtures: Plymouth (A), Stockport (H), Burton (A), Bradford (H)
It’s very plausible that Barnsley won’t win another point all season and still stay up but at 250/1, I am willing to take a punt on them TO BE RELEGATED fully aware it would take a minor miracle for Exeter to pull this off.
I do really struggle to see where the Reds' next win will come from though. Their record against the bottom three reads W0 D1 L2 and against the top six they’re W1 D4 L4.
Five of the Reds remaining games are away from home as well, where they are averaging a little over a point per game. It seems worth a swing at the price.
Odds correct at 10:45 BST (07/04/26)
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