The value lies with the visitors in Monday's League Two clash at Whaddon Road.
Cheltenham v Barnet - Boxing Day 15:00
With 21 rounds of the League Two season behind us, we’re now in a position to make more assertive judgements when the numbers contradict the narrative and there’s value in backing the away win at 13/5 here. Barnet might be managerless and heading into this clash on the back of a demoralising home defeat to Stevenage but they ought to be favourites, according to shot data.
Cheltenham, with the experienced Gary Johnson at the helm, are doing a good job of disguising some pretty horrible numbers. There’s not much talk of a crisis at Whaddon Road but an immediate return to non-league is looking like a distinct possibility if standards don’t improve. The Robins haven’t dropped into the bottom two by accident.
Last weekend, they came from behind to beat Morecambe. The Shrimps are comfortably the worst team in the division, yet Cheltenham were distinctly second best until a controversial red card turned the game in their favour. Coming into the game, they had lost three successive matches against opposition comparable to Barnet, conceding three goals in each case.
The Bees were rocked by the departure of Martin Allen at the start of the month but seem to determined to carry on regardless under caretaker Rossi Eames. With striker John Akinde in blistering form - 24 goals in his last 27 league appearances - there’s value in Barnet accentuating their superiority by clearing the -1 handicap at 7/1.
