Exeter City vs Barnsley - AI Match Preview

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England League One

Exeter City

Barnsley

Preview Team statistics AI Prediction H2H Team recent Odds Lineups Injuries / suspensions League table

Match Events

I. Niskanen

41'

Pierce Sweeney

45'

54'

Patrick Kelly

J. Wareham

61'

R. Cole

73'

77'

Davis Keillor-Dunn

Preview

Exeter City vs Barnsley: Striking Contrasts in League One Encounter

League One sees Exeter City hosting Barnsley in a match where contrasting recent form and underlying statistics set the stage. The home side has shown significant improvement in their last three fixtures, particularly defensively, while Barnsley, despite a solid overall season, are coming off a mixed bag of recent results.

This fixture presents a potential clash of styles and momentum. Exeter's recent defensive improvements, coupled with their usual home possession advantage, suggests they'll aim to build from the back and control the tempo. Barnsley, known for their attacking output and ability to generate shots, might look to exploit any transitional opportunities. The home side's recent compact defensive shape could make it difficult for Barnsley to find space, but the visitors' higher volume of shots and corner kicks might pose a persistent threat.

Team statistics

England League One

Exeter City

Barnsley

Matches played

6 - 2 - 11

Results

8 - 4 - 5

31.6%

Win %

47.1%

0.9

Goals scored

1.8

1.1

Goals conceded

1.4

3.1

Shots on target

4.2

3.6

Shots off target

4.5

2.5

Blocked shots

3.4

51.3

Ball possession

55.6

74.9

Pass accuracy

76.7

12.6

Fouls

11.3

2.4

Goalkeeper saves

2.3

1.9

Yellow cards

2.2

Red cards

0.1

League averages

Key points

• Exeter City have won 2 of their last 3 home games, conceding only 1 goal in that run.
• Barnsley have a balanced away record this season, with 3 wins, 3 draws, and 3 losses in 9 games.
• The odds suggest Barnsley are slight favourites, with their price for an away win being 2.4 compared to Exeter's 2.8.

AI Prediction

While Barnsley hold a slight edge in overall attacking statistics and their odds suggest they are marginal favourites, Exeter's recent home form, particularly their defensive resilience, cannot be ignored. The home side has dramatically tightened up in their last three home games, while Barnsley's recent results have been inconsistent. Given both teams' offensive capabilities and the odds suggesting a relatively open game with a slight lean towards goals, a draw with both teams scoring seems the most plausible outcome.

AI

Confidence

Pick

Recent Win% (20)
nova-lite-v1 (fr)

by amazon

70%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

20%

O/U

47%

BTTS

50%
gemini-2.0-flash-lite-001 (ar)

by google

65%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

23%

O/U

43%

BTTS

57%
gemini-2.0-flash-lite-001 (es)

by google

68%

X DRAW

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

27%

O/U

57%

BTTS

60%
gemini-2.0-flash-lite-001 (ru)

by google

68%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

30%

O/U

43%

BTTS

50%
gemini-2.0-flash-lite-001 (vi)

by google

75%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

17%

O/U

47%

BTTS

57%
gemini-2.5-flash-lite (en)

by google

70%

X DRAW

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

17%

O/U

47%

BTTS

47%
llama-3.1-8b-instruct (it)

by meta-llama

80%

HOME

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

30%

O/U

50%

BTTS

47%
llama-3.1-8b-instruct (nl)

by meta-llama

82%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

30%

O/U

30%

BTTS

47%
llama-3.3-70b-instruct (pt)

by meta-llama

65%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

20%

O/U

50%

BTTS

57%
phi-4-multimodal-instruct (id)

by microsoft

82%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

13%

O/U

50%

BTTS

47%
mistral-nemo (de)

by mistralai

72%

HOME

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

23%

O/U

50%

BTTS

43%
gpt-oss-120b:exacto (tr)

by openai

70%

HOME

BTTS NO

2.5 OVER

1x2

37%

O/U

43%

BTTS

40%
qwen-turbo (th)

by qwen

85%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

23%

O/U

40%

BTTS

50%
grok-4.1-fast (ja)

by x-ai

72%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

23%

O/U

67%

BTTS

63%
grok-4.1-fast (ko)

by x-ai

72%

AWAY

BTTS YES

2.5 OVER

1x2

17%

O/U

47%

BTTS

53%

H2H

League One

Match date	Team	Score	Team	O/U 2.5	BTTS
4/1/2025	Exeter City	W 2 - 1 L	Barnsley AWAY	O	Y
12/14/2024	HOME Exeter City	L 1 - 2 W	Barnsley	O	Y
1/27/2024	Exeter City	W 2 - 1 L	Barnsley AWAY	O	Y
10/7/2023	HOME Exeter City	L 0 - 1 W	Barnsley	U	N

Includes records from 2023 onwards.

Team recent

Exeter City

H/A	VS	Score	Results	O/U 2.5	BTTS	Cor 9.5
AWAY	Bolton	1 - 2	L	O	Y	N
HOME	AFC Wimbledon	1 - 0	W	U	N	Y
AWAY	Bradford	0 - 1	L	U	N	Y
AWAY	Leyton Orient	1 - 2	L	O	Y	N
HOME	Wigan	1 - 1	D	U	Y	Y
HOME	Plymouth	2 - 0	W	U	N	N
AWAY	Stockport County	0 - 1	L	U	N	N
HOME	Reading	1 - 1	D	U	Y	Y
AWAY	Lincoln	1 - 0	W	U	N	N
HOME	Huddersfield	0 - 1	L	U	N	Y

Exeter City's season statistics paint a picture of a team that struggles for consistency, particularly away from home. However, their recent form, especially in the last three home games, suggests a marked upturn. They've secured two wins and a draw in their last three at home, conceding just one goal across those matches. This defensive solidity is a significant shift from their season average and bodes well for their home form.

Barnsley

H/A	VS	Score	Results	O/U 2.5	BTTS	Cor 9.5
HOME	Leyton Orient	3 - 2	W	O	Y	Y
AWAY	Lincoln	1 - 3	L	O	Y	Y
AWAY	Stockport County	1 - 1	D	U	Y	Y
HOME	Luton	5 - 0	W	O	N	N
AWAY	Doncaster	2 - 1	W	O	Y	Y
HOME	Rotherham	0 - 1	L	U	N	Y
AWAY	Bradford	2 - 2	D	O	Y	Y
AWAY	Wycombe	2 - 2	D	O	Y	N
HOME	Port Vale	0 - 2	L	U	N	N
AWAY	Blackpool	0 - 1	L	U	N	N

Barnsley arrive at St James Park with a respectable overall record, boasting a positive goal difference and a decent win percentage. Their away form, however, is more balanced, with an equal number of wins, draws, and losses. While they've been scoring well on average throughout the season, their defensive record away from home (1.4 goals conceded per game) indicates they can be breached, and their most recent away outing saw them ship three goals.

Over

Under

Yes

Odds

1x2

HOME

2.8

DRAW

3.4

AWAY

2.4

2.5 OVER/UNDER

OVER

1.8

UNDER

BTTS

YES

1.67

2.1

Lineups

Exeter City

(3-4-1-2)

Joe Whitworth

Luca Woodhouse

Jack Fitzwater

Pierce Sweeney

Ilmari Niskanen

Jake Doyle Hayes

Ethan Brierley

Jack McMillan

Jack Aitchison

Jayden Wareham

Sonny Cox

Davis Keillor-Dunn

Reyes Cleary

Patrick Kelly

Neil Farrugia

Luca Connell

Adam Phillips

Tennai Watson

Jack Shepherd

Marc Roberts

Jonathan Bland

Murphy Cooper

Barnsley

(4-2-3-1)

Average Player Rating

Injuries / suspensions

Exeter City

Name	Reason	Type	G/A

Barnsley

Name	Reason	Type	G/A
M. Roberts	Groin Injury	Missing Fixture	0 / 0

League table

England League One

#	Team	Played	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Form
1	Cardiff	22	15	2	5	40	23	17	47	WWLWW
2	Lincoln	23	13	5	5	34	23	11	44	WWWDW
3	Bradford	22	12	7	3	32	21	11	43	WWLWW
4	Stockport County	22	11	5	6	33	29	4	38	WLWLW
5	Huddersfield	23	11	4	8	42	31	11	37	WWWDD
6	Bolton	22	10	7	5	30	21	9	37	LWLWW
7	Stevenage	21	10	6	5	25	17	8	36	LDDWL
8	Luton	23	10	5	8	33	28	5	35	WWLDD
9	Wycombe	23	7	8	8	29	27	2	29	DLWDL
10	Reading	22	7	8	7	29	28	1	29	DWWLL
11	Mansfield Town	22	8	5	9	28	28	0	29	WWLDL
12	Wigan	22	7	8	7	25	25	0	29	WLLDW
13	Blackpool	23	8	5	10	29	30	-1	29	WWWDW
14	Peterborough	22	9	2	11	26	28	-2	29	DWWWW
15	Barnsley	20	8	4	8	32	32	0	28	LLLWL
16	Leyton Orient	23	8	4	11	34	38	-4	28	LLWLD
17	AFC Wimbledon	22	8	4	10	24	30	-6	28	LDLDL
18	Burton Albion	22	7	6	9	23	29	-6	27	LWDDL
19	Northampton	22	8	3	11	22	28	-6	27	LLWLD
20	Exeter City	22	8	2	12	22	21	1	26	WLWLW
21	Plymouth	23	8	2	13	28	38	-10	26	DLWWW
22	Rotherham	23	6	6	11	22	33	-11	24	LLLLL
23	Doncaster	23	6	4	13	23	40	-17	22	LLLLL
24	Port Vale	22	3	6	13	13	30	-17	15	LLLDL

Exeter City vs Barnsley AI Match Preview, Prediction, Team Stats Comparison, League table

Preview

Exeter City vs Barnsley: Striking Contrasts in League One Encounter

Team statistics

Team Stats Comparison

Key points

AI Prediction

H2H

Team recent

Exeter City Team recent

Barnsley Team recent

Odds

Exeter City

Barnsley

Injuries / suspensions

Exeter City Injuries / suspensions

Barnsley Injuries / suspensions

League table