Eng. Championship
2012-12-08 - Leicester City vs Barnsley
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Saturday 8 December 2012 - Kick Off 3pm
Leicester City
Leicester City were on top form last weekend as they crushed local rivals Derby County 4-1 at the KP Stadium and they remain firmly in the hunt for an automatic promotion place. The fans will be hoping they can continue with their recent momentum as they get ready for a number of games in quick succession over the Christmas period.
The win over Derby means Leicester moved up to 3rd in the table and they have now picked up 36 points on the season to stay 5 points behind Cardiff City at the top of the table. They have a very strong 8-1-1 record at home this season, scoring 24 goals and conceding 7 in those games. Only Cardiff City have won more home games than Leicester so far this season.
Leicester have won 3 of their last 4 games in the League to stay in contention with the sides at the top and they have only lost 1 of their last 6 games. Since picking up 1 point from 2 home games, Leicester have bounced back in impressive style with 2 straight home wins in which they have scored 10 goals and conceded just 1.
Barnsley
After a bright start to the season, Keith Hill and the fans must have been believing that Barnsley were going to avoid a fight against relegation that was predicted for them before the season began. Recent form has dropped off for them and now Barnsley are looking over their shoulders in the League table.
Barnsley are now 21st in the table, just one place and 2 points clear of the relegation zone, while they are only 4 points better off than Peterborough United at the bottom of the table. The side are just 2-1-7 away from home this season, scoring 11 goals and conceding 19 in those games.
They have now failed to win any of their last 9 games and they have lost 6 of those meaning picking up 3 points from a possible 27 in the League to drop down the table. Barnsley have failed to win any of their last 4 games on their travels, losing 3 of those games.
Head to Head
Barnsley beat Leicester City 1-2 here last season to snap a run of 5 consecutive losses to them at this stadium.
Prediction
Leicester City have been playing really well in recent games after suffering a real blip in terms of results and I think they are going to be too strong for a Barnsley team that is short of confidence and not picking up too many results of late.
The win for Barnsley here last season should focus the home side even more so they don't take any chances in this one and I like their chances of covering the 1.5 Asian Handicap set on the game.
Leicester have been scoring plenty of goals at home all season and they just don't concede many in front of their own fans so the 2.25 on them covering the spread looks worth chancing.
The Pick :
Leicester City 3-1 Barnsley
