Football Tips: Our 3 best bets for finely-poised Swansea v Barnsley playoff

* All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.

It was a touch of class and a big dollop of fortune which proved the difference between Swansea and Barnsley in the first leg of this Championship playoff semi final at Oakwell as Andre Ayew cut in from the right to curl home the only goal of the game. Replays showed he was offside but, in the absence of VAR below the Premier League, the goal stood and it’s The Swans who take a 1-0 advantage back to the Liberty Stadium.

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Steve Cooper’s men did well to stand up to the barrage that Barnsley threw at them and keep a clean sheet. It’s not the prettiest to watch from the Tykes but boy, has it been effective for them this season as they finished 5th in the league. There will be a potent mix of blood and thunder up against patient passing football again, but which philosophy is going to triumph? Let’s try and find out.

Saturday 6.30pm: Swansea v Barnsley
Sky Sports Football

Short-priced punt: Swansea to Win

Swansea beat Barnsley home and away in the league, 2-0 on both occasions, and have now scored five goals without reply against their opponents in 2020/21. As much as Barnsley give 100%, it’s hard to see them overturning this deficit away from home against a side who clearly have something over them.

With the fans behind them and superior players in every department we have to be on the Swansea Win as the safest option in this match. We’re getting superb odds that, with everything taken into consideration, seem far too big and hopefully we can capitalise on that.

Value Play: Andre Ayew to Score Anytime

The Ghana international was the difference in the first leg, courtesy of that lucky officiating mistake and class finish. It was a lovely goal and Ayew is streets ahead of anything Barnsley can put out on Saturday.

I’m quite surprised he’s as big as he is to score in this game, especially as he’s The Swans’ top scorer and netted in the first leg. With a bit of value, I’m happy to tip up Andre Ayew to Score Anytime again in the second leg.

Long Shot: Swansea to Win 2-0

With two regular-season 2-0 wins up their sleeve, the backing of their fans and the confidence boost that comes with playing on home soil, I think there’s a reasonable chance we see Swansea win this comfortably. When The Swans win it is generally to Nil with four of their last five victories coming off the back of a clean sheet.

Swansea have scored in six of their last eight so we can back them quite confidently to net while keeping The Tykes out once again, and as the game goes on Barnsley will become more desperate and start to leave some holes.

So, with the host’s solid defence, their three wins over the Tykes already this season, two by this scoreline, and the prize of a place at Wembley, it could well pay to back Swansea to Win 2-0 as our long shot in this game.