The second leg of the League 1 Playoffs is heating up as Barnsley take on Bolton Wanderers, at Oakwell. The game is delicately poised as both teams are level heading into the match.
Barnsley vs Bolton Betting Tips
- Bolton to Win @3/1 with bet365
- Under 4 Match cards @1/1 with bet365
- Dion Charles to Score @12/5 with bet365
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Both sides will be striving to earn their place in the Wembley final as they face each other on Friday night 20:00 on Sky Sports. The 4th and 5th playoff match ended in a draw in the first first leg.
Win for the Wanderers
While it appears the bookies have almost written off Bolton in this tie, many wouldn't be so sure about this decision. With many stats leaning in their favour and previous matches, the Trotters could knock those pesky Tykes out of the playoffs.
Bolton haven’t lost at the Oakwell stadium in over 10 years, a string of victories and draws going back all the way to 2013. Most recently, beating them 3-0 earlier in January, as well as beating them in three of their five matches since 2020, drawing one of these and losing the other.
Bolton have also proven themselves to be a difficult team to breakdown, having conceded the fewest goals in League 1 this year with 36. All of this leads to an exemplary defensive record that sees them conceding on average 0.79 goals per game.
This staunch defence should help them hold up against the electric forward line of Barnsley. The Trotters are also bringing in some impressive away form, unbeaten in their last 7 away games.
Bolton seem seriously undervalued to steal a win away here, and at 3/1 could provide some immense value for players, accumulators and bet builders.
Barnsley vs Bolton Tip 1: Bolton to win @3/1 with bet365
Timid Tykes and Trotters
This game could be a marked change from many peoples perspectives of League 1 as a hard hitting, fiery competition, with cards flying left and right.
Bolton have broken the mould in this respect, averaging 1.76 cards per match and barely scraping this in 53% of their matches.
Barnsley seem to consign to this view as well with their seeing their opponents booked a mere 1.83 times per game.
The first leg of this tie was quiet as well with 0 cards being shown across the whole game, as the referee had a quiet evening.
Josh Smith, is our ref for this second leg and gives out 3.5+ cards in under half of his top flight matches also, and could act as our linchpin in this tie.
With so much at stake, neither team will want to do anything to put their sides in jeopardy, and with a timid ref, all of this could accumulate into a quiet affair.
Barnsley vs Bolton Tip 2: Under 3 match cards @1/1 with bet365
Charles chomping at the bit
Dion Charles has impressed at Bolton this year. The club's top goal scorer this year with 18 in all competitions, he has played a key role in this side's playoff drive in the league.
His goalscoring record is slightly lopsided as well, with the large majority of his goals coming away from home, with 10 of the 18.
He averages a goal every 0.56 away games, or every other match, and as he didn’t score last time out, could be looking to continue in this vein.
As a player he can be considered selfish, but this is exactly what people are looking for in a striker with a mind for goal.
He also takes all of their penalties which can only increase his chance of getting on the scoresheet, with Barnsley concedeign the majority of their penalties at home, including one last time they played the Trotters at Oakwell.
Charles looks the most likely to score for the Bolton side, who will need goals if they want to go through to the Wembley Final.
Barnsley vs Bolton Tip 3: Charles to score @12/5 with bet365