Sheffield United and Barnsley, battling for promotion and survival respectively in the Sky Bet Championship, meet in a South Yorkshire derby on Saturday. Joe Townsend has a preview and best bet.
Football betting tips: Championship
1pt Barnsley to win either half at 3/1 (Sky Bet)
Former Barnsley player, manager and boyhood fan Paul Heckingbottom has done quite the job at Sheffield United since replacing Slavisa Jokanovic as manager at the end of November.
Ten wins, five draws and three defeats have turned the Blades' season from potential back-to-back relegations, to possible immediate Premier League return.
Kick-off time: 12:30 GMT, Saturday
TV channel: Sky Sports Football (Red Button)
Sheff Utd 4/9 | Draw 10/3 | Barnsley 13/2
But while Heckingbottom and his team deserve plenty of praise, they have dropped off in recent weeks.
One win in five in the league, and just three in nine, has seen aspirations of automatic promotion virtually evaporate, with the Blades now ninth in the Sky Bet Championship table with nine games to play.
Improving Barnsley, stuttering Blades
Barnsley, on the other hand, finally seem to have found their feet under Poya Asbaghi.
After failing to win any of his opening 11 matches, the Tykes looked dead and buried at the bottom of the table, eight points from safety. Four wins, two draws, and two defeats later and they have a fighting chance of avoiding the drop into League One.
Worthy of note, too, is their two draws (with Fulham and Stoke) were courtesy of conceding 86th and 93rd minute equalisers, and one defeat was to a stoppage-time Coventry goal.
A team that was so used to losing has now developed a habit of staying in matches - indeed eight of their last 10 defeats have been by a single goal.
I'm neither confident enough to back Barnsley or the Draw in the 1X2, nor is there any value to be had there. The double chance and draw no bet markets also look just a touch on the skinny side.
But what does stick out is the 3/1 on offer with Sky Bet for BARNSLEY TO WIN EITHER HALF.
That would have been a winning selection in five of their last eight fixtures, with Sheffield United's promotion rivals Fulham, Middlesbrough and QPR all among those were bitten by Asbaghi's improving team.
Sheff Utd v Barnsley best bets and score prediction
- 1pt Barnsley to win either half at 3/1 (Sky Bet)
Score prediction: Sheffield United 1-1 Barnsley (Sky Bet odds: 7/1)
Odds correct at 1730 GMT (17/03/22)
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