Barnsley v Sheffield Wednesday

Barnsley vs Sheffield Wednesday Preview

Monday afternoon concludes the play-off action over this long weekend and culminates in this upcoming tussle between Yorkshire rivals, Barnsley and Sheffield Wednesday, for the right to play Championship football next season when they meet at Wembley Stadium.

Barnsley overcame Bolton Wanderers in the play-off semi-final as The Tykes prevailed by a 2-1 win on aggregate thanks to a 1-0 home win over The Trotters in the 2nd leg at Oakwell but that has been Barnsley's only victory in their last five games overall in the English third tier.

Recent losses to Ipswich Town and Peterborough United along with being held to draws by MK Dons and Bolton Wanderers suggest Barnsley may have been hoping to bring a greater winning momentum into this crucial season finale at Wembley.

Barnsley had previously enjoyed a solid sequence of results in League One which spanned 12 games from the end of January through to towards the end of March which included 10 wins, but The Tykes have since produced inconsistent results in their last 12 games, winning five, drawing three and losing four.

Sheffield Wednesday recorded one of the greatest comebacks in the history of English play-offs in the 2nd leg of their semi-final tie against Peterborough United as The Owls found themselves 4-0 down after the 1st leg at London Road.

Wednesday looked all but down and out ahead of the return leg at Hillsborough but Darren Moore's side staged a remarkable fightback to eventually win 5-1 on the night (after extra-time and penalties) to progress through to this play-off final at Wembley, while Peterborough are probably still wondering how they lost that tie!

Having lost just two of their last 11 matches overall in League One and a sequence of results that also includes picking up six wins as well, Sheffield Wednesday appear to be bringing in greater winning momentum than that of their Yorkshire rivals, especially as these wins include victories over Derby County and Peterborough United.

In addition, The Owls have scored in 10 of these last 11 games overall and this could prove to be the difference between the two sides at Wembley Stadium on Monday afternoon.

Barnsley v Sheffield Wednesday Verdict

Despite some ordinary results of late, Barnsley will be well up for this clash which also has the added spice of being a Yorkshire tussle with old foes Sheffield Wednesday, while The Owls perhaps look the more likely to gain the edge here given their recent encouraging results.

Barnsley have actually held the upper hand in previous exchanges, winning the last three meetings on the trot but we believe Sheffield Wednesday can buck the trend here with a narrow victory to gain promotion back up to the Championship.

Therefore, our main bet will be Sheffield Wednesday to lift trophy @ 1.61

Other side bets worth considering:

Sheffield Wednesday win @ 2.15

Correct score: Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 @ 7.00