Perhaps a welcome break from league football as Barnsley & Grimsby Town face off to decide who makes it to next stage of the EFL Trophy. All the pre-match information is available here!
It's no vacation for neither Barnsley nor Grimsby Town as both were in action only a few days ago. Expect some tired legs on the pitch and/or possibly some changes to the lineups.
Barnsley form and stats
Last season their EFL Trophy adventure ended in the 2nd round.Barnsley have played three League One home games so far, perhaps enough to set expectations for the season. In that case, only 3 points from these matches could be a signal of rough times ahead.
Nothing to worry about in defence for Barnsley, as their goalkeeper Jack Walton has completely shut out the opponents for 182 minutes in the League One.
Happy days for Barnsley in their previous game, a fixture away at Cheltenham Town that ended with a 2-0 victory. The home side have an in-form goalscorer in Cole, having scored in three matches in a row. Roberts, who guards the goal, was given a match rating of 8.61 out of 10 in that game. Roberts topped it up with a clean sheet.
In the preceding match a 2-0 victory visiting Wigan Athletic.Early season league goal statistics from Barnsley's 3 home games: {9 goals}, 6 conceded.
Grimsby Town form and stats
Grimsby was sent out of EFL Trophy in the 2nd round last season.The League Two season is young and Grimsby Town have only just started going through their travel schedule, with 2 away games done and still no victory. 1 draw and 1 defeat so far.
Grimsby Town are travelling after their nice 2-0 home win in the game against Gillingham. Rodgers, who plays in defense, got the "man of the match" on his team with the rating 8.04. Rodgers hit one key pass and won 10 of 12 duels.
Ahead of that, 2-2 at home against Manchester City U21 (after extra-time, 2-5 on penalties) in the EFL Trophy. As mentioned above, the odds for this match puts the home team as favourites. Perhaps this eases the pressure on the away team, who are capable of producing an upset here on a good day. Looking at earlier matches with similar odds and Grimsby Town playing away, we found 4 games. Results were 2 away wins, 0 draws and 2 home wins.
Grimsby Town have another match that requires travelling in just four sleeps, a League Two game against Bradford City. A back-breaking fixture list for the guests!
It's early days yet, but Grimsby Town has scored 3 and conceded 4 goals from their travels in the league so far (2 games).
Head 2 Head
Top Goalscorers
  D. Cole 6 goals |   A. Eisa 4 goals |  B. Cotter 1 goals |
Barnsley missing players
Grimsby Town missing players
| Barnsley | Grimsby Town | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 13 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 11 | 7 | Won | W | 3 | 9 | ||
| 4 | 0 | Drew | D | 3 | 8 | ||
| 10 | 6 | Lost | L | 7 | 8 | ||
| 49 | 27 | Scored | S | 17 | 33 | ||
| 37 | 19 | Conceded | C | 21 | 30 | ||
| 96% | 100% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 92% | ||
| 84% | 85% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 85% | 80% | ||
| 60% | 69% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 46% | 32% | ||
| 40% | 46% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 31% | 24% | ||
| 28% | 31% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 31% | 20% | ||
| 56% | 46% | BTTS | BTTS | 62% | 52% | ||
| 28% | 31% | Clean Sheets | C S | 8% | 32% | ||
| 20% | 23% | Failed to Score | F T | 38% | 24% | ||
| 5 | 5.8 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 6 | 5.4 | ||
| 4.8 | 4.6 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 4.8 | 5.2 | ||
| 1.9 | 2.1 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 1.7 | 1.6 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Red cards | R C | 0 | 0 | ||
| 13.1 | 12.8 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 11.8 | 12.4 | ||
| 5.2 | 5.7 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 4.5 | 4.1 | ||
| 37% | 36% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 29% | 32% | ||
| 11.5 | 12 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 9.5 | 9.9 | ||
| 4.4 | 4.9 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 4.2 | 3.8 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Manchester City U21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | Grimsby Town | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Barnsley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Bradford City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Exeter City | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 13 |
| 2 | Bolton Wanderers | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 |
| 3 | Stevenage | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| 4 | Port Vale | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 10 | -3 | 13 |
| 5 | Portsmouth | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 12 |
| 6 | Oxford United | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 12 |
| 7 | Lincoln City | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 11 |
| 8 | Barnsley | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 10 |
| 9 | Wycombe Wanderers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -3 | 10 |
| 10 | Derby County | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| 11 | Cambridge United | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 12 | Blackpool | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 13 | Peterborough United | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 5 | -1 | 9 |
| 14 | Shrewsbury Town | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -2 | 9 |
| 15 | Northampton Town | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 7 |
| 16 | Charlton Athletic | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 6 |
| 17 | Bristol Rovers | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -2 | 6 |
| 18 | Reading | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 19 | Carlisle United | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 5 |
| 20 | Leyton Orient | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | -7 | 4 |
| 21 | Wigan Athletic | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| 22 | Burton Albion | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | -7 | 2 |
| 23 | Fleetwood Town | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | -7 | 1 |
| 24 | Cheltenham Town | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -8 | 1 |
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Notts County | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 13 |
| 2 | Milton Keynes Dons | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| 3 | Gillingham | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -1 | 12 |
| 4 | Barrow | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 5 | AFC Wimbledon | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 6 | Newport County | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 10 |
| 7 | Mansfield Town | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 10 |
| 8 | Accrington Stanley | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 |
| 9 | Morecambe | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
| 10 | Swindon Town | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 |
| 11 | Crewe Alexandra | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 13 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 12 | Grimsby Town | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| 13 | Wrexham | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 15 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 14 | Walsall | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | -1 | 8 |
| 15 | Bradford City | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -2 | 8 |
| 16 | Crawley Town | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 10 | -5 | 8 |
| 17 | Salford City | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | -1 | 7 |
| 18 | Forest Green Rovers | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | -4 | 7 |
| 19 | Harrogate Town | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -3 | 6 |
| 20 | Stockport County | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 5 | -2 | 5 |
| 21 | Tranmere Rovers | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | -2 | 3 |
| 22 | Colchester United | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 3 | -2 | 3 |
| 23 | Sutton United | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 5 | -4 | 3 |
| 24 | Doncaster Rovers | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 6 | -8 | 2 |
- Barnsley FC
- Barnsley Chronicle - (local newspaper)
- Grimsby Town
- Grimsby Telegraph - (local newspaper)
- The Fishy - (supporter site)
- Cod almighty - (supporter fanzine)
