A preview of Barnsley's game with high-flying Birmingham City.
LIKELY LINE-UPS
Barnsley (3-5-2): Killip; de Gevigney, Roberts, Earl; O’Keeffe, Phillips, Connell, Russell, Gent; Keillor-Dunn, Humphrys
Birmingham (4-2-3-1): Allsop; Bielik, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Iwata, Paik; Laird, Willumsson, Stansfield; May
TEAM NEWS
Barnsley: Out: Gaga Slonina (finger). Doubts: Josh Benson, Max Watters. Birmingham: Suspended: Keshi Anderson. Injured: Emil Hansson, Scott Wright, Alfons Sampsted.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
Reds 1, Blues 3 – March 21, 1953
Birmingham’s last trip to Oakwell for 32 years. They scored in the tenth, 11th and 20th minutes before Frank Beaumont replied early in the second half. The Reds finished bottom of the second tier.
Reds 0, Blues 1 – April 5, 1997
Barnsley would be celebrating promotion to the top flight three weeks later but Danny Wilson’s men were left frustrated in this game. Martin Grainger got the goal with a wind-assisted 12th-minute free-kick and the hosts could not break down a well-organised Birmingham defence.
Reds 1, Blues 3 – October 13, 2001
Peter Sand scored his only goal for Barnsley on his league debut, heading in early in the second half to cancel out Marcelo’s opener. But Geoff Horsfield, playing against his hometown club, scored a minute later then Paul Furlong secured the win.
Reds 2, Blues 2 – December 31, 2016
Tom Bradshaw and Sam Winnall put Paul Heckingbottom’s Barnsley 2-0 up. Jacques Maghoma pulled one back before Marc Roberts, who would sign for Birmingham at the end of the season, was sent off and conceded a penalty for a foul on Che Adams. Lukas Jutkiewicz scored the spot-kick.
Reds 1, Blues 1 – August 28, 2021
The pure misery of Barnsley’s relegation season was yet to fully descend on the club at this point. Callum Styles’ excellent sixth-minute strike was cancelled out by Jutkiewicz. Liam Kitching head-butted Chuks Aneke late on and, although the referee missed it, he was later banned for three games.
OPPOSITION VIEW
Alex Dicken, Birmingham Mail
Blues have recovered well from a mini wobble in the league to record back-to-back 2-0 wins over Exeter and Stockport. Chris Davies appears to have found a nice balance at the back with three central defenders allowing Alex Cochrane to get forward from left-back.
The midfield two of Paik and Iwata is by far and away the best pairing in League One and Blues have bags of talent in attack, including record signing Jay Stansfield and the prolific Alfie May.
The only real selection dilemma comes on the right of their attack with Keshi Anderson suspended. Although Ethan Laird is naturally a right-back, he is the natural replacement for Anderson with Blues enduring a bit of a winger shortage. Ayumu Yokoyama is the only one of their four wingers expected to take part at Oakwell.
KEY BATTLES
JAY STANSFIELD V MAEL DE GEVIGNEY
Stansfield’s move to the Blues was one of the most talked-about transfers of the summer as a third tier club paid at least £10million for a player. Some media sources have claimed it was as much as £15million.
So far, the 22-year-old forward has ten goals in all competitions. Stansfield scored three times against Barnsley in the 2022/23 season when on from loan from Fulham to Exeter who did the double over Michael Duff’s Wembley-bound Reds.
He is likely to play on the left of three attacking midfielders alongside Iceland international Willum Willumsson – who cost £4million and has provided four goals and four assists – and Ethan Laird who is expected to replace the suspended Keshi Anderson. That means Stansfield should come up against Barnsley’s right-sided centre-back and right wing-back who tend to be de Gevigney and Corey O’Keeffe. Mael has played 55 successive league matches without missing a minute but this could be his toughest challenge yet as he must make sure the skilful and pacy Stansfield does not beat him one-on-one which can sometimes be the Frenchman’s weakness.
ALFIE MAY V MARC ROBERTS
While Stansfield’s signing took most of the headlines in the summer, Birmingham also paid just under a million pounds for May from Charlton. The 31-year-old is the closest you can get to a guaranteed 20-goal striker in League One, having reached that mark in three successive seasons for Cheltenham then the Addicks – for whom he netted twice against Barnsley in April. He so far has seven goals and three assists in the league and generally plays as a lone striker with attacking midfielders behind him.
Centre-back Roberts – who spent seven years with the Blues – will have to be at his best to keep May quiet.
Such has been the rapid turnover of Birmingham’s squad this year, Roberts did not play with the vast majority of the current Blues players. He has generally been one of Barnsley’s most consistent players since returning this season.
Birmingham’s back-up striker has been Scotland international Lyndon Dykes. They also have Lukas Jutkiewicz, 35, who has 68 goals for the club – including three against Barnsley – but has barely featured in the league this season.
TOMOKI IWATA V LUCA CONNELL
Birmingham’s central midfield pairing of Japan international Iwata and South Korean international Paik Seung-ho have been the talk of League One this season. Their passing and ball retention has allowed the Blues to dominate possession.
They are both in the top ten in the division for pass completion, with more than 87 per cent. Iwata is the more attacking, with five goals already. His previous club was Celtic, like Connell who is set to play his 100th game for Barnsley. The captain has created a lot of chances for the Reds this season and will hope that, in this game, he and his fellow midfielders – most likely to be Adam Phillips and Jon Russell – can disrupt Iwata and Paik and stop them dictating the game.
CHRISTOPH KLARER V STEPHEN HUMPHRYS
Austrian centre-back Klarer, who signed for £3.5million in the summer after playing in the German top flight last season, has made the most passes of any League One player this season.
He is key to Birmingham’s possession-based build-up-from-the back style. Barnsley will look to test out his defensive capabilities and also his passing skills with their pressing.
Klarer has partnered former Liverpool and Rangers man Ben Davies. The Reds will need Humphrys and Keillor-Dunn to find some extra energy in a fifth match in 14 days, while being clinical with chances if they get some.
They looked slightly burnt-out in midweek but Darrell Clarke has so far been unwilling to replace them in the 11.
