Barnsley made a successful return to the Championship following automatic promotion from League One at the end of last season with Daniel Stendel’s side producing some attractive and attacking football.
Barnsley also made a good start to this new Championship season when they recorded a shock 1-0 home win over Fulham who are one of the pre-season favourites for promotion back to the Premier League.
However, last weekend’s Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Wednesday resulted in a 2-0 defeat at Hillsborough, so they’ll be keen to return to Oakwell for this Saturday’s clash against fellow former League One rivals, Charlton Athletic.
The early signs suggest that Barnsley’s main hopes of maintaining their Championship status this season will largely hinge upon their results at Oakwell, and indeed, they are unbeaten on home turf in their last 5 matches, a record that extends to their last campaign in the second tier, back in March 2018.
As the season is still in its infancy, a look at the goals market indicates 8 of Barnsley’s last 15 matches at home have resulted in both teams scoring, which includes a 2-1 home win over Charlton in their last clash at Oakwell back in December 2018.
Charlton Athletic achieved promotion from League One at the end of last season via the play-offs, and Lee Bowyer’s men have started out of the blocks in explosive fashion in this season’s Championship so far.
The London club have recorded back-to-back wins against Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City to take the early stages of the new season in the second tier by storm, but they face a tricky trip to face Barnsley this weekend.
Nevertheless, Charlton and Bowyer will be confident they can come away from South Yorkshire with something after the fantastic start they’ve made to this campaign.
Indeed, Charlton have won their last two away matches on the trot which were gained at Colchester united in a pre-season friendly along with the aforementioned 2-1 win away at Blackburn Rovers on the opening day of the Championship season.
Whilst an away win at Barnsley may be pushing the envelope, 8 of Charlton’s 15 away matches have also resulted in both teams scoring and the likes of creative midfielders, Williams and Aneke along with forwards Taylor, Bonne and Gallagher up front, the visitors stand a decent chance of scoring here.
Barnsley know their best chances of survival depend upon results at Oakwell while Charlton will be in confident mood - both teams to score here looks to be on the cards.