Barnsley v Oldham Athletic Tips | 3rd February 2015

BARNSLEY meet Oldham in the only domestic action from the Football League on Tuesday night and Mark O’Haire (@MarkOHaire) reckons he’s found a slice of value.

Barnsley v Oldham Athletic | Tuesday 19.45

Back-to-back wins in mid-November suggested Danny Wilson may have found the formula to get Barnsley on track for a push at promotion. They went to Chesterfield at a decent price with many punters throwing their cash behind the free-scoring Tykes but a 2-1 defeat was their first of six in a 10-game spell that saw the South Yorkshire side tumble down the table.

The loss of form coincided with the loss of striker Sam Winnall to injury at the beginning of December but the former Scunthorpe hitman is expected to return to the ranks tonight as the Tykes chase a fourth consecutive league win at Oakwell.

Saturday’s 2-1 victory at home to Port Vale lifted Wilson’s charges four points above the relegation zone with the Barnsley boss keen to salute on-loan Manchester United goal hero Ben Pearson for his contribution. The Tykes overcame a late onslaught of pressure from Vale with Peter Ramage and Martin Cranie standing strong at the back.

So I’m slightly surprised to see Barnsley chalked up as 19/10 outsiders for Tuesday night’s clash. The hosts have only lost 5/13 League One games at Oakwell and should have the majority of their big-hitters available.

Oldham travel over the Pennines fresh from a straightforward 3-0 success at home to Notts County on Saturday. Manager Lee Johnson was chuffed with the nature of the performance but with only three wins from 13 on their travels and only three victories in their last 11, I can’t be having the Latics at 8/5.

I’ve been tempted by taking the hosts in the Draw No Bet market but instead I’m going to plump for the 10/11 from William Hill on Over 2.5 Goals. Barnsley have only failed to score twice in front of their home supporters this season and are strengthened by the return of Wninall.

Excluding results against the current bottom-three and all 10 Barnsley games at Oakwell have broken the 2.5 barrier. Whilst it’s also worth noting that every visiting side has scored when visiting Barnsley bar Leyton Orient and Yeovil in the bottom-two.

Meanwhile, Oldham have seen seven of their last eight feature Over 2.5 Goals and they’ve only failed to trouble the scoresheet three times since September. Johnson can also call upon extra firepower thanks to the deadline day signings of Rhys Murphy and Conor Wilkinson.