Barnsley vs Fleetwood Prediction: Nothing fishy about a Cod surprise

Fleetwood caused one of the shocks of the first round of last season's Carabao Cup and will be looking to do something similar at Barnsley on Thursday (17:45 BST, Sky Sports+). Four League 2 sides beat higher-ranked opponents at this stage 12 months ago, with Fleetwood's 2-1 win over West Brom the pick of those shocks, so the League 1 Tykes will be wary.

Below are my Barnsley vs Fleetwood predictions, supported by all the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Less than three full days before a crunch visit from Bolton, expect Barnsley boss Conor Hourihane to consider resting 37-year-old David McGoldrick and several others.

Jack Shepherd, suspended after an opening-day red, can come back into the hosts’ defence.

Football Odds

Fleetwood boss Pete Wild also has a selection headache to mull over with his side at Bromley on Saturday.

Barnsley vs Fleetwood Odds

Barnsley are 8/11 to make it three wins out of three; Fleetwood are 7/2, or a 22.2% chance, to do exactly the same in regulation time.

The Tykes have not lost any of their last nine clashes with the Cod Army, the most recent meeting ending in a 2-1 Barnsley win in February 2024. A repeat of that scoreline is a 7/1 shot.

Fleetwood win @ 16/5 (2 Up Early Payout)

It took a penalty shootout defeat at Stoke to deny Fleetwood a place in the last 16 of last year's Carabao Cup, suggesting this is a team you take seriously in cups.

Wild wasn't in charge of a Fleetwood team who put out Championship side West Brom and League 1 outfit Rotherham, but he will fancy his chances at Oakwell against Barnsley.

The Tykes are going well in League 1 with a 3-1 opening-day success at Plymouth a statement result, and then they came from 2-0 down to pip Burton 3-2 on Saturday.

That will have taken plenty out of Hourihane's side, and the Irishman will make plenty of changes against a Fleetwood side who are also two out of two.

Today's Football Fixtures

The Fylde outfit kicked off their League 2 season with a tidy 2-0 win at Barnet, bursting the promoted side's bubble.

And they were better still at the weekend, toppling well-fancied Bristol Rovers 2-1 at Highbury.

Only Notts County scored more away goals than Fleetwood in the basement last season, and any side that can hit six at Walsall and four at Crewe or MK Dons can be respected even at a higher grade.

Barnsley Total Corners Over 6.5 @ 6/5

Barnsley will be piling on the pressure, bossing the ball and doubtless winning most corners, too.

Fleetwood have had 33 per cent and 39 per cent possession in their two games so far, so it’s little wonder they have conceded 14 corners in those two games.

There's a method Wild is preaching that works for them, but it also invites a bet on Barnsley racking up plenty of corners.

They mustered seven fighting back to win against Burton and can at least match that number.

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