Barnsley vs Swansea Prediction & Betting Tips - Championship

Prediction published on 16/05/2021, 01:17  by Nella Wagah | Modified on 16/05/2021 at 01:17 in Championship Prediction

After a grueling season, the Championship post season is here, with the promotion playoff semi finals kicking off. Barnsley, fifth placed finishers host Swansea, who finished fourth, in their first leg on Monday. Among the promotion favorites at the start of the season, Barnsley were nowhere, especially after their low finish last season. Finishing fifth was not only good for them, it also meant they avoid Brentford and Bournemouth at least until the final. Valerien Ismael was criticized for his recruitment policy but he has done wonders with the team and now they are three games away from the Premier League. Barnsley have lost just three of their last 21 Championship matches. Two of these losses have however come in the last five matches and Ismael should devise a good plan to prevent another one. In the last five matches too, they’ve conceded two goals in three, and failed to score in two. They failed to win their last two matches in the regular season, losing to Preston then drawing with Norwich but by then they had already secured a playoff spot. They are however unbeaten in the last four home matches and one of only two losses at home in the last 15 matches, was against Swansea. They have six wins in 10 at home.

Swansea had a rather underwhelming finish to the season after looking like favorites for automatic promotion at some point. They managed just three wins and lost six of their final 11 matches. Swansea failed to score in six of the 11 matches while in the final five, they failed to keep a clean sheet, and conceded two goals in three. The Welsh side finished the season on 80 points, two better than Barnsley and they also won this fixture home and away, both 2-0. Going to this clash, Swansea are winless in their last two away matches and have just two wins in the last six. However, they haven’t lost to Barnsley in 12 straight meetings, across all competitions. The last time Swansea lost this fixture was in a League One playoff back in 2006, and that was on post match penalties after 2-2 draws across the two legs.