Brentford welcome Barnsley to Griffin Park, on the final day of the 2019-20 Championship season, in a game both teams need to win for very different reasons.
The Bees go into the final day sitting third, a point behind West Brom in second, and with automatic promotion out of their hands. Not only do Thomas Frank’s men have to beat Barnsley, but they also must hope QPR do not lose to the Baggies if they want any chance of going up automatically.
Meanwhile, their South Yorkshire visitors need the three points if they want any chance of keeping their Championship status for another year. The Tykes are currently in 23rd place, two points behind the safety of 21st which Charlton currently inhabit, but like Brentford know their destiny does not lie in their own hands. Not only do Barnsley need to win on Wednesday; but hope that either Luton or Charlton lose for them to guarantee second-division football next year.
When and Where
The match will be played at 7:30pm on Wednesday 22nd July, at Griffin Park. Depending on if Brentford go up automatically or go into the play-offs, this could be the clubs last match at the ground.
Previous Meetings
Brentford and Barnsley have met just 58 times in competitive action, with Brentford winning 24 of those games compared to Barnsley’s 13, the remaining 21 games have been draws.
Their most recent meeting was in September at Oakwell, where Ollie Watkins scored a hat-trick, despite Cauley Woodrow scoring in the first minute for the Tykes, to give the West London club a 3-1 win.
Prior to that meeting, Barnsley had not lost any of their last four league meetings with Brentford.
Last 5
Brentford:
(L) 1-0 v Stoke
(W) 1-0 v Preston
(W) 3-1 v Derby
(W) 2-1 v Charlton
(W) 3-0 v Wigan
44 games in and it looked like finally Brentford were going to jump into the automatic promotion places they had been chasing all season. West Brom’s 2-1 loss to Huddersfield on Friday meant that Watkins and friends only had to beat Stoke to jump into the top two, but what followed was a bottlejob that new champions Leeds would have been proud of. Lee Gregory’s 38th minute tap in was enough for the Potters to squeak out a 1-0 victory and now means QPR, a team Brentford hate so much they won’t even announce their name when the teams play at Griffin Park, have to get something at the Hawthorns against West Brom for the Bees to go up automatically. Before that most curial of losses at the bet365 Stadium, the Bees had won their previous eight games. Funny game football isn’t it.
Barnsley:
(W) 1-0 v Nottingham Forest
(L) 1-0 v Leeds
(D) 0-0 v Barnsley
(D) 1-1 v Luton
(L) 4-0 v Stoke
Patrick Schmidt’s 93rd minute winner against fifth- placed Nottingham Forest, has given Barnsley a slight chance they can avoid relegation on the final day. As previously stated, they need other results to go their way, but considering they were seven points from safety at the time of football’s stoppage it’s given Tykes Gerhard Struber a bit of hope. Since the re-start Barnsley haven’t been that bad either, with their only losses coming from Stoke and champions Leeds but avoiding relegation still might be a step too far.
Team News
Neither team have any new injury concerns heading into the match.
Brentford midfielder Shandon Baptiste returned from a knee injury against Stoke and should feature in some capacity and Josh Dasilva came back into the side to replace Emiliano Marcondes at the weekend, which is likely to happen again.
Patrick Schmidt’s last-minute winner may be enough to see him start on Wednesday. Struber also brought in Marcel Ritzmainer and Luke Thomas against Forest and they could start again.
Prediction
Unfortunately for Barnsley I can only see this going one way. The Tykes will make the game as hard as they can for Brentford, but by the end of Wednesday I can see them being back in League One. Whether a Brentford victory will be enough for automatic promotion, I’m not too sure but a win will give them confidence going into the play-offs
Score Prediction: Brentford 2-0 Barnsley
Match Preview written by Jamie Perry