Mark O'Haire's football betting tips, best bets and nap: Take the Tykes
Football betting tips: Mark O'Haire
2.5pts Barnsley to beat Oxford at 4/5 (QuinnBet)
2.5pts Under 2.5 goals in Barcelona v Atletico Madrid at 31/40 (Unibet)
Barnsley v Oxford
The automatic promotion race is really heating up in Sky Bet League One with Plymouth (89), Ipswich (88) and Sheffield Wednesday (87) vying for the two available berths. However, Barnsley (82) cannot be dismissed with the Tykes making an impressive late charge.
No third-tier team has earned more points since mid-October with the Reds posting W19-D4-L4. The South Yorkshire side have averaged 2.26 points per game during that stunning streak, as well as 2.11 goals per game.
And Michael Duff’s men have proven almost flawless at Oakwell.
Barnsley have won eight successive home games, as well as 12 across their most recent 13 league fixtures on their own patch. That sample includes wins over high-flyers Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday, Derby and Portsmouth, with their only reverse arriving against top-six outfit Bolton - a match they played 80 minutes of with 10 men.
The Tykes have plundered multiple goals in 12 of those aforementioned 13, firing home three goals or more on seven occasions.
If they come close to reaching those sky high standards on Saturday BARNSLEY look too big to ignore at 4/5 (1.80) to dispatch relegation-threatened Oxford.
Oxford earned a fifth draw in six outings in midweek, but that run of results has extended the Yellows winless streak to 16 (W0-D6-L10).
During that sorry sample they have failed to score nine times and managed more than a solitary strike just once. Go back to mid-November and the visitors have picked up just three league wins in 24 (W3-D9-L12).
Over the course of the campaign, Oxford have collected just four away victories in 21 and the visitors have often fallen short against the leading lights, posting W2-D3-L10 when facing the top 15.
Scoreless in six of seven trips to the top eight, they are bound to be tested by an in-form Barnsley outfit whose sights remain set on the top two.
Barcelona v Atletico Madrid
Barcelona versus Atletico Madrid takes centre-stage in La Liga on Sunday afternoon, however there’s a fair chance the Camp Nou clash may fail to fire…
Barca boast a seemingly unassailable 11-point advantage at the top of the table, while Atletico are 12 points clear of fifth-placed Betis, almost assuring the visitors of a top-four finish. Neither side have cup commitments between now and June and so it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise if their weekend contest struggled to ignite.
Opposing goals therefore looks a logical angle of attack with UNDER 2.5 GOALS trading at a backable 31/40 (1.78) with Unibet. The reverse encounter ended 1-0, meaning our proposed play has now paid out in nine of the past 11 La Liga meetings between these teams, and four of the last five.
La Liga as a whole is averaging only 2.44 goals per game with 55% of fixtures featuring a maximum of two goals.
Barca have rarely been a free-scoring machine under Xavi. The Catalans come into this clash following back-to-back goalless draws against Girona and Getafe, and have now fired blanks in three successive fixtures.
Since the World Cup break, Barcelona have scored only 20 league goals in 15 outings – managing no more than a solitary strike on 10 (67%) occasions.
Now they welcome the league’s second-meanest defence with Atletico also in fine form – winning six on the spin, unbeaten in 13 and having kept seven shutouts in that 13-game sample.
Raw numbers also point towards a low-scoring clash. Barcelona’s home games are averaging only 2.07 goals – 57% of which have produced under 2.5 goals profit and 36% have failed to produce more than one goal.
Meanwhile, 71% of Atletico’s away days have also gone unders with those 14 showdowns returning just a 2.00 goals per game average.
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