National cups are something special for many teams and supporters. Today's match will decide whether it's Port Vale or Barnsley that keep their silverware dream alive.
There’s little time for restitution or working hard at the training pitch these days, with both teams having played their last game less than four days ago.
Port Vale form and stats
Action has already taken place for Port in EFL Trophy as they have defeated Shrewsbury Town, Stockport County and Wolves U21 to reach the 2nd Round. Port Vale participated in EFL Trophy the last season, where they reached the 2nd round.Port Vale have played 10 League One games at their own stadium so far this season, resulting in 4-3-3 (wins-draws-losses).
Port's last game was hosting Charlton Athletic and winning 1-0. The forward Butterworth outperformed all others in that fixture and managed a match rating of 7.64 out of 10. Butterworth scored one goal and hit one key pass.
A League One defeat was the result before that one, 0-4 away at Oxford United.The bookmakers consider this a fairly even contest. One could say only the home advantage separates the teams. It could be relevant to look at how Port Vale have performed in matches similar to this (as small favourites). Our database has found 14 matches with the results: Won 8, drawn 4 and lost 2.
Port Vale are certainly not overdoing their scoring at home in league matches, having created 12 goals in 10 games. Port Vale have conceded 11 in these home matches.
Barnsley form and stats
The traveling awayteam has defeated Doncaster Rovers, Lincoln City and Newcastle United U21 in order to reach 2nd round of EFL Trophy.The story so far for the visiting team on their League One travels is 4 wins, 2 draws and 3 defeats.
The supporters enjoyed Barnsley's previous fixture versus Milton Keynes Dons, a 3-1 win played at home. Phillips has found the net for the visitors three games in a row. The know-how! Midfield player Kane was the top player of the team with a match rating of 8.13/10. Kane scored one goal, served one assist, hit one key pass and had 38 successful passes (of 42 total).
Before that one, a nice away victory 1-0 at Shrewsbury Town.So, this is expected to be a close game, an even contest. Looking at earlier matches with Barnsley playing away and similar expectations, we found 8 relevant matches. Results were 1 Barnsley win, 3 draws and 4 defeats.
A quick return to home after this game, as Barnsley are hosting Crewe Alexandra in the FA Cup only three days away.
Barnsley have scored 10 goals on their travels this season, from 9 away games in the league. Barnsley are defending well in their away games, having conceded only 6 times in 9 matches. For more goal statistics, check out the Statistics tab above.
Head 2 Head
As for the last seven games between these two teams, there's three Port Vale victories, two draws and two Barnsley wins. Over/under statistics; four of these games ended with three goals or more, three matches with two goals or less.
Top Goalscorers
  E. Harrison 7 goals |   D. Cole 5 goals |  J. Benson 3 goals |
Port Vale missing players
Barnsley missing players
| Port Vale | Barnsley | ||||||
| Total | Home | Statistics | Stat | Away | Total | ||
| 25 | 14 | Played | P | 13 | 25 | ||
| 11 | 6 | Won | W | 7 | 14 | ||
| 5 | 3 | Drew | D | 2 | 3 | ||
| 9 | 5 | Lost | L | 4 | 8 | ||
| 34 | 18 | Scored | S | 18 | 35 | ||
| 35 | 16 | Conceded | C | 12 | 25 | ||
| 96% | 93% | Over 0.5 | O 0.5 | 92% | 96% | ||
| 72% | 57% | Over 1.5 | O 1.5 | 54% | 68% | ||
| 60% | 50% | Over 2.5 | O 2.5 | 46% | 48% | ||
| 36% | 29% | Over 3.5 | O 3.5 | 23% | 20% | ||
| 12% | 14% | Over 4.5 | O 4.5 | 8% | 4% | ||
| 48% | 50% | BTTS | BTTS | 38% | 36% | ||
| 32% | 36% | Clean Sheets | C S | 46% | 40% | ||
| 24% | 21% | Failed to Score | F T | 23% | 28% | ||
| 5.8 | 6.1 | Corners for (avg) | C F | 3.2 | 4.7 | ||
| 4.4 | 4.1 | Corners against (avg) | C A | 5.7 | 4.8 | ||
| 1.6 | 1.6 | Yellow cards (avg) | Y C | 2.5 | 2 | ||
| 0 | 0 | Red cards | R C | 1 | 2 | ||
| 11.3 | 11.6 | Shots (avg) | S ( | 9.9 | 10.8 | ||
| 2.6 | 2.8 | Shots on Target (avg) | S O | 3.2 | 3.4 | ||
| 52% | 46% | Goal Efficiency | G E | 44% | 41% | ||
| 9.8 | 8.6 | Shots against (avg) | S A | 9.4 | 8.9 | ||
| 3 | 2.6 | Shots on Target against (avg) | S O | 3 | 2.8 | ||
| Total | Home | Away | |||||||||||||||||||
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | MP | W | D | L | F | A | +/- | P |
| 1 | Plymouth Argyle | 19 | 13 | 4 | 2 | 39 | 22 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 20 | 17 | 17 | 43 |
| 2 | Ipswich Town | 19 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 38 | 19 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 22 | 12 | 19 | 41 |
| 3 | Sheffield Wednesday | 19 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 16 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 12 | 5 | 19 | 40 |
| 4 | Peterborough United | 19 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 34 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 19 | 11 | 31 |
| 5 | Bolton Wanderers | 18 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 21 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 31 |
| 6 | Barnsley | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 23 | 15 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 30 |
| 7 | Portsmouth | 17 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 26 | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 29 |
| 8 | Derby County | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 29 |
| 9 | Lincoln City | 18 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 21 | 21 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 0 | 26 |
| 10 | Port Vale | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 21 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 17 | -7 | 26 |
| 11 | Exeter City | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 31 | 29 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 17 | 15 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 14 | 2 | 25 |
| 12 | Wycombe Wanderers | 19 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 25 | 24 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 1 | 25 |
| 13 | Oxford United | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 25 | 21 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 12 | 10 | 4 | 24 |
| 14 | Charlton Athletic | 19 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 30 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 15 | 3 | 24 |
| 15 | Bristol Rovers | 19 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 30 | 33 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 15 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 15 | 16 | -3 | 24 |
| 16 | Shrewsbury Town | 19 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 17 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 10 | -4 | 23 |
| 17 | Fleetwood Town | 19 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 20 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 22 |
| 18 | Cheltenham Town | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 21 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 9 | -6 | 22 |
| 19 | Accrington Stanley | 19 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 19 | 30 | 9 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 14 | -11 | 20 |
| 20 | Cambridge United | 19 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 18 | 30 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 9 | 13 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 17 | -12 | 20 |
| 21 | Milton Keynes Dons | 18 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 17 | 28 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 17 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 11 | -11 | 14 |
| 22 | Burton Albion | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 25 | 40 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 22 | -15 | 14 |
| 23 | Morecambe | 19 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 15 | 30 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 16 | -15 | 14 |
| 24 | Forest Green Rovers | 19 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 16 | 38 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 10 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 21 | -22 | 14 |
