Preview: Barrow vs. Oldham Athletic - prediction, team news, lineups

Bottom-of-the-table Oldham Athletic travel to fellow strugglers Barrow in League Two on Wednesday night.

The Latics dropped to the basement of the Football League on Boxing Day and are three points adrift of safety, while the Bluebirds are 19th and only three points clear of the relegation zone.

Match preview

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Both teams were two of only six sides in action in League Two on Boxing Day, with the rest of the division disrupted by postponements.

Oldham lost 3-1 at home to relegation rivals Scunthorpe United, conceding three second-half goals after taking an early lead through Benny Couto.

Selim Benachour remains as caretaker boss in Lancashire over a month after the departure of Keith Curle.

The Latics have won just one of their last 10 matches and have taken only one point from their last five, while they have lost three successive games away from home.

Meanwhile, they are the lowest scorers on the road in League Two with just six goals in 10 games and have the division's worst defence with 39 conceded.

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Barrow were beaten 2-0 by high-flying Tranmere Rovers on Boxing Day - their fourth defeat in five league matches.

The Bluebirds dominated possession at Prenton Park, but could not make it count as they missed the chance to pull clear of danger.

Mark Cooper's men have claimed victory just once in their last 11 matches, but did beat Oldham 3-0 at Boundary Park earlier in the season.

Ollie Banks, Offrande Zanzala and Joe Grayson all found the net in a comfortable victory, with Latics fans staging a second half pitch invasion in protest at the club's ownership.

Team News

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Ollie Banks will serve the second of a two-game ban for Barrow after receiving his 10th yellow card of the season in League Two.

Banks is the Bluebirds' top scorer this season, so the goal burden will fall on the shoulders of Josh Gordon and Offrande Zanzala.

Patrick Brough, Matthew Platt and James Jones all missed the defeat to Tranmere on Boxing Day after testing positive for COVID-19, so are likely to be absent again.

Davis Keillor-Dunn could come back into Oldham's starting lineup after only being fit enough for the bench against Scunthorpe having recovered from COVID-19.

Tottenham Hotspur loanee Jamie Bowden missed the Boxing Day clash after testing positive, so could miss out once more.

17-year-old Harry Vaughan has been linked with a move to Premier League outfit Burnley following a number of impressive performances.

Barrow possible starting lineup:
Farman; Taylor, Ellis, Grayson; Hutton, White, Gotts, Kay; Stevens, Zanzala; Gordon

Oldham Athletic possible starting lineup:
Leutwiler; Piergianni, Clarke, Couto; Adams, Vaughan, Whelan, Hart; Keillor-Dunn, Bahamboula; Hope

We say: Barrow 1-0 Oldham Athletic

This should be a tight game and one that is hard to call, particularly with both sides likely to be affected by COVID-19. We think Barrow will just about edge it, with Oldham in trouble both on and off the pitch.

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