Barnsley v Aston Villa

The arrival of John Terry and Chris Samba in the summer made plenty of headlines, but whether that was really the area that Steve Bruce needed to spend the most time and attention to was certainly open to some debate, and a return of just seven goals from seven matches for a team who went off as title favourites perhaps goes some way to answering that question.

While Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ross McCormack should be capable of racking up decent numbers of goals at this level, they are starting to look somewhat out of practice at the act, and this could be Villa's downfall this season.

They travel to Barnsley this weekend, and how the bookmakers can be making them as strong as even money favourites is beyond us. Barnsley can be a tough place to go - they lost just six home matches last season, while Villa has been pretty poor travellers lately - without a win away from home so far this season, and they've banked just two wins away from home since last Christmas - those coming against relegated Wigan and Rotherham. In fact, only two other points have been added to the totals with draws at Huddersfield (2016/17) and Bristol City (2017/18).

This looks a strong play therefore and we shouldn't mess about on the handicaps, let's dive straight in with a home win here at 13/5 with Betfair Sportsbook. That's simply too long.

2.5pts Barnsley to beat Aston Villa at 13/5 with Betfair.

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