It has been a long time between meetings for Barnsley and Aston Villa as they prepare to meet at Oakwell tomorrow night.
You have to go all the way back to the last time the Tykes were in the Premier League which was in the 1997-98 season.
They split their meetings in that campaign with Villa winning 3-0 at Oakwell and Barnsley returning the favour at Villa Park with Ashley Ward scoring in a 1-0 victory.
That result is the only time that Barnsley having beaten Villa, albeit the sample size is particularly small with only 15 meetings between the clubs, with Villa having won 11 of the clashes and there have been three draws.
After a superb start to the season, Barnsley have somewhat stumbled losing their last two fixtures and falling to seventh in the table.
Their most recent setback was on Saturday against Brighton where they went down 2- 0 which led Paul Heckingbottom to say “it was the first time this year that the side had underperformed.”
It was also the first time this season that the top scorers in the league had been kept at bay with captain Conor Hourihane saying that the team was flat and “lacking energy.”
The fixture represents the first time in 2016/17 that the Tykes play a relegated team from last season. There is little chance of the team being ‘flat’ tomorrow night especially as they are playing a big club like Villa at home for the first time In nearly 20 years.
They will be banking on the likes of Hourihane, Adam Armstong and Adam Hammill to be at the top of their game
Villa will looking to claim the three points after seven league games without a win. Their display against Newcastle was encouraging, coming from behind to claim a draw courtesy of goal from substitute Aaron Tshibola in the 88th minute.
Having thrown away so many points when they have been in winning positions in the last 10 minutes, it would have been satisfying to be on the other side of the fence; however much more improvement needs to occur to see them as a genuine promotion possibility this season.
Villa need the three points a lot more than Barnsley do, but home advantage and better overall form means that the Tykes could emerge victorious and climb the table again.
Barnsley 3 Aston Villa 2
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