Birmingham City were handed their first defeat in 10 matches in the Championship on Saturday afternoon when they found themselves on the end of a heavy 3-0 defeat away at Nottingham Forest, in what was a miserable display by The Blues.
Despite only winning just 1 of their first 4 matches of this new season, Birmingham City had been a tough nut to crack in the second tier as they finished last season in strong fashion, putting together a 9-match unbeaten run which included notable results such as a 2-0 win against Leeds United and taking points off Derby County and Sheffield United in draws.
On the subject of draws, Birmingham were involved in 6 draws within this 9-match sequence, and indeed, were a close second to Stoke City (22 draws) as the west midlands club ended up being involved in 19 stalemates over the course of the last campaign.
Creative midfielder Jota and striker Adams have since left the club to Aston Villa and Southampton respectively, leaving Birmingham very bare in the attacking department as Vassell also left to Cardiff City.
In addition, Birmingham racked up the highest number of draws at home in the Championship last term with 11 stalemates.
Onto Barnsley, and the Yorkshire club achieved automatic promotion from League One at the end of last season as they finished runners-up to league winners, Luton Town, but despite a winning start to this new Championship season, The Tykes have slumped since.
An opening day 1-0 home win against Fulham at Oakwell was an impressive start for Barnsley who caused something of a stir with that result against one of the pre-season favourites for promotion from the division this term.
However, three matches on and Barnsley have yet to repeat their first day of the season victory as they suffered back-to-back defeats with a 2-0 loss away at Yorkshire rivals, Sheffield Wednesday and were then sent packing out of the League Cup as they lost 3-0 to League Two outfit, Carlisle United.
The visitors did gain a point on Saturday afternoon though by holding Charlton Athletic to a 2-2 draw but that was achieved at their Oakwell ground, while results away form home in league football have seen Barnsley lose 3 of their last 4 matches on the road.
Barnsley’s leading goalscorer last season, Moore, has left for Wigan and although The Tykes still have Woodrow up front, they may not pack as big a punch as they might have previously.
In short, both teams have lost key attacking personnel and may lack the firepower to grab all 3 points. Therefore, a draw may be on the cards here.