Team News
Barnsley suffered no ill effects from the midweek victory over Derby County so manager Keith Hill could stick with the same eleven for the trip to Watford. Jim O’Brien is back in full training but is still a couple of weeks away from returning to the team whilst Jay McEveley has a knee problem, which ruled him out of the Derby game.
Of the new recruits, Scott Golbourne is likely to be at least in the squad but Stephen Dawson is a week away from full fitness, as he has not played since The 7th January due to ankle ligament damage. Korey Smith and Michael Tonge had fine debuts on Tuesday and are set for their first away games as Barnsley players.
Likely Line-Up:
Luke Steele
Scott Wiseman
Stephen Foster
Rob Edwards
Jim McNulty
Korey Smith
David Perkins
Michael Tonge
Matty Done
Craig Davies
Andy Gray
Head To Head
Last Six Watford v Barnsley Results:
17/9/11 Barnsley 1-1 Watford (Championship)
23/4/11 Watford 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)
27/11/10 Barnsley 0-0 Watford (Championship)
6/2/10 Barnsley 1-0 Watford (Championship)
12/9/09 Watford 1-0 Barnsley (Championship)
11/4/09 Watford 1-1 Barnsley (Championship)
Overall Record:
Watford Wins: 17
Barnsley Wins: 19
Draws: 16
Watford Goals: 55
Barnsley Goals: 60
At Watford (25 at Vicarage Road, 1 at Cassio Road):
Watford Wins: 11
Barnsley Wins: 7
Draws: 8
Watford Goals: 33
Barnsley Goals: 26
This Season
Last six 2011-2012 results:
31/1/12 Millwall 0–2 Watford (Championship)
27/1/12 Watford 0-1 Tottenham (FA Cup)
21/1/12 Birmingham 3-0 Watford (Championship)
14/1/12 Watford 1-2 Reading (Championship)
7/1/12 Watford 4-2 Bradford (FA Cup)
2/1/12 Portsmouth 2-0 Watford (Championship)
W: 2 D: 0 L: 4 F: 7 A: 10 GD: -3 Points: 3
Barnsley:
31/1/12 Barnsley 3–2 Derby (Championship)
21/1/12 Barnsley 1–3 Millwall (Championship)
14/1/12 Leicester 1–2 Barnsley (Championship)
7/1/12 Barnsley 2–4 Swansea (FA Cup)
2/1/12 Doncaster 2–0 Barnsley (Championship)
31/12/11 Barnsley 4–1 Leeds (Championship)
W: 3 D: 0 L: 3 F: 13 A: 13 GD: 0 Points: 9
Interesting Stats
This has not been a game that generates goals. The last seven meetings have produced just 10 goals and the last time either side scored more than once was Barnsley’s 3-0 win at Vicarage Road back in 2008 when Kayode Odejayi scored a brace just three days after missing a sitter in the FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley.
There has though been just three stalemates in the past 13 match ups.
Barnsley have won just one of their last seven trips to Vicarage Road and have lost the last two 1-0.
The two sides played out a 1—1 draw at Oakwell back in September but there have not been two drawn meetings in the same season since 1998-1999.
Both teams lost their top scorers on transfer deadline day as Barnsley’s 12 goal marksman Ricardo Vaz Te went to West Ham and 10 goal Marvin Sordell moved from Vicarage Road to Bolton.
Watford ended a three match losing streak with a 2-0 win at Millwall on Tuesday- their first success on the road since the start of December.
The Hornets home form is impressive however, and they have lost just once in their last eight home matches- their most recent, against Reading.
Barnsley’s 3-2 home win over Derby on Tuesday was their second victory in three matches but only their third success in nine and their first at home since New Years Eve.
The Reds were 3-0 up after just half an hour but allowed The Rams to score two second half goals to extend their run without a clean sheet to 12 matches.
Interestingly Barnsley have led at half time in 13 of their 28 matches, only league leaders West Ham can match that.
Mad Sites
www.watford-mad.co.uk
Official Sites
www.watfordfc.com
Other Fixtures
Bristol City v Leeds, 15:00
Burnley v Peterborough, 15:00
Middlesbrough v Crystal Palace, 15:00
Portsmouth v Hull, 15:00
Birmingham v Southampton, 17:20
Sunday, 5 February 2012
Derby v Nott'm Forest, 12:15