League One highflyers Barnsley should make class count

3pm Saturday

Barnsley v Doncaster

Who would you rate as the best side in Sky Bet League One?

The league table would suggest Portsmouth and most casual observers would point towards Sunderland, but there is a strong case for suggesting Barnsley, and they can beat Doncaster in the Yorkshire derby at Oakwell.

Barnsley have the small matter of a trip to Sunderland on Tuesday but they must give this their full attention and a run of five wins in their last seven in League One suggests a strong promotion challenge is on.

So do the shot statistics, where Barnsley sit top of the class in a number of metrics, including shot and shots-on-target ratio.

Daniel Stendel's side have overcome Peterborough and Luton during their latest run and kept three straight league clean sheets, which is key because attack-wise few teams will stop Barnsley.

Cauley Woodrow has scored twice in four matches since arriving on loan from Fulham, while Kieffer Moore has notched nine times and both were on target in last week's 2-0 win at Accrington with ten men following Ezekiel Fryers' 64th-minute red card.

Accy boss John Coleman reckoned Barnsley were the best side in the division pre-match and afterwards suggested it was the first time this season he had noticed a significant jump up in quality from League Two.

Barnsley have a strong midfield too with Brad Potts, Cameron McGeehan, Alex Mowatt and Mamadou Thiam, but it's in the attacking third where they could punish Doncaster.

Rovers thumped Chorley 7-0 in the FA Cup on Tuesday, although the fact that they needed a replay in the first place hints at problems.

Grant McCann's men have not kept a clean sheet in the league since August 25 and have lost five of their last eight third-tier fixtures.

Recommendation
Barnsley
1pt 88-100 Hills

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Gillingham v Luton

In the discussion for best Sky Bet League One outfit must be fifth-placed Luton, who are on the charge after a difficult start where they often played better than results suggested.

It's all coming together nicely now for Nathan Jones's side and last week's 5-1 thrashing of Plymouth had the boss gushing in his praise for a performance which sizzled from the first whistle.

Luton still need to prove themselves in the biggest matches - they have not beaten a side from the top eight yet, but from ninth downwards Town have triumphed in nine of 11 fixtures.

The Hatters tend to do their best work at Kenilworth Road, although successes at lowly Oxford and Wimbledon suggests the trip to Gillingham should hold few fears.

At their best Gillingham would struggle to contain Luton's free-flowing football in a well-formed diamond midfield but the Kent outfit may also be fatigued after travelling to Hartlepool for Wednesday's FA Cup tie, which went to extra-time.

Recommendation
Luton
2pts 5-6 general

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Stevenage v MK Dons

There has been a strong move towards Sky Bet League Two leaders MK Dons and they can justify that market confidence with a win at Stevenage.

MK's stay in the basement is set to be short-lived with seven wins in eight league contests and they are dominating opponents too.

Bury battered Stevenage 4-0 last week with a shot count of 32-6 in favour of the Shakers and the stats were heading in that direction even before Kurtis Guthrie's red card on 41 minutes.

Guthrie's suspension adds to the absentee list for a Boro side who will do well to maintain their current position of ninth for too much longer even when players return from the sidelines.

Recommendation
MK Dons
1pt 19-20 general

Bet on this match at Soccerbase.com

Plays of the day

Banker
Borussia Monchengladbach 1-2
Gladbach have a perfect home record in the Bundesliga by an aggregate margin of 14-2 and Hannover, who are one of the weakest sides in the league, should be fearing the worst.

Blowout
Preston 5-4
Things are looking up for Preston but this looks a tricky game against Blackburn, who will have more than 5,000 fans at Deepdale for the local derby. Rovers have lost just three of their 17 league games.

Accumulator
Real Madrid 11-21, Sheff Utd 13-17, Sevilla 7-17, Monchengladbach 7-15 188Bet

Both teams to score
Games at Tranmere 4-5, Freiburg 8-13, Real Sociedad 8-11 general

Thought for the week

It was announced that VAR will be coming into the Premier League, just days after Charlie Austin's rant over the need for video evidence to be used in England's top flight.

Austin was understandably upset, still in his kit and worked up after a goal that was disallowed against Watford, but his assertion that Saints would have won the game with VAR is dubious at best.

Had VAR been in use at St Mary's there is every chance Watford would have had a penalty at 1-0 down, with Ryan Bertrand probably sent off at the same time. Nobody in a Southampton shirt was getting worked up when a refereeing decision went in their favour.

VAR is coming in so it seems futile to moan too much about the problems it still creates, although the idea that it adds to the drama is totally untrue if you are at the stadium rather than watching on TV.

I was at the recent West Ham v Tottenham League Cup tie where VAR was in operation and it did nothing but confuse the vast majority of supporters, killing much of the joy which comes with scoring in a big London derby.

The only people who pay to be inside a football stadium are the fans and they need to find a way to keep those supporters in the loop.

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