MILLWALL v BARNSLEY
Football – England – Championship
Saturday 22nd December 2012 – Kickoff: 15.00hrs
In-form Millwall entertain struggling Barnsley at the New Den on Saturday afternoon as the hosts look to extend their unbeaten home run to eight matches in the Championship and cement their play-off position of sixth place.
Millwall have lost just once in their last sixteen league matches which is an incredible run of form and manager Kenny Jackett must surely be due some kudos for his efforts so far this season. Their one loss during this run was at Ipswich Town but the Tractor Boys have turned their form around lately as well so no real damage has been done.
However, Millwall will be keen to convert this encounter with Barnsley into three points after throwing away a 2-0 lead at Brighton in midweek and given their home form at the moment they should achieve this in relative comfort. A home record of 6-2-3 17/12 represents solid form when you consider they are unbeaten in their last seven at the New Den.
Visitors Barnsley find themselves once more in familiar territory at the wrong end of the table currently sitting in the bottom three, but they’ve been here before and know how to wriggle out of trouble at this level.
However, The Tykes will be keen to start putting some more points on the board following a run of eleven matches without a win, but they face an uphill task at Millwall on Saturday and this may have to wait for when hapless Birmingham City visit them on Boxing Day. Barnsley have taken just four points from a possible 33 which reflects their current plight.
Barnsley’s away record stands at 2-2-7 13/21 with only Burnley (24 goals) and Ipswich Town (26 goals) conceding more than them on their travels. Actually, the seriousness of Barnsley’s away form extends far beyond just this season as they’ve kept just two clean sheets in their last thirty one away matches and this statistic alone surely condemns them again for this fixture at Millwall.
Millwall’s recent form as you can see has been very solid indeed and they should easily account for a Barnsley side who really struggle away from home both in terms of scoring goals and keeping clean sheets; this should be a 2-0 win for Millwall here.
Pick: Millwall straight win @ 1.75 Bet Victor
