Eastleigh return to the Silverlake Stadium to face fellow promotion rivals Barnet in the 27^th matchday of the Vanarama National League on Tuesday 31^st January with kick-off at 7:45pm. Preview in association with Unibet. 

Eastleigh:

The Spitfires will be looking to win their third match in a row following victories over Braintree Town and Southend United in the previous two matches. 

Last time out, Eastleigh recorded just their second away league victory of the campaign defeating fellow promotion hopefuls Southend United 3-1 at Roots Hall Stadium. 

Goals from Alfie Lloyd, Charlie Carter, and JJ McKiernan moved the Spitfires up into ninth place and within just one point of the playoff positions. 

Having broken the long streak without a victory away from home, Eastleigh will now look to consolidate their outstanding home form, where the Spitfires have lost just twice all season. 

Lloyd will try to continue his own good form having scored in four consecutive league matches moving his tally to five, while Carter closed the lead to the top of the Eastleigh goalscoring charts by netting his seventh of the campaign and is now just three goals behind the prolific Danny Whitehall at the top of the standings. 

Barnet:

Barnet also come into the fixture looking for a third consecutive victory in all competitions having progressed in the FA Trophy by defeating Solihull Moors 2-0 before downing fellow promotion rivals Chesterfield 3-0 at home. 

The Bees have lost just once in 13 matches across all competitions however, prior to this fixtures’ postponement last week, Barnet had stumbled to two consecutive draws in the league which lost the Bees ground on the pack chasing the two front runners Wrexham and Notts County. 

Barnet currently occupy fifth position, six points and four places better off than the Spitfires going into the game. 

Top scorer Nicke Kabamba has scored 16 goals this season and comes into the match in red-hot scoring form having netted a hat-trick last time out against Chesterfield and similarly to Lloyd, the attacker has now scored in his last four league outings. 

Fixture History:

Despite the fixture being postponed last week due to a frozen pitch, the two sides have met already this season, playing in late August with the Bees running away 3-1 winners at the Hive Stadium. 

First-half goals from Harry Pritchard and Sean Shields followed by a goal ten minutes into the second half from Robert Hall gave the hosts a comfortable lead and an 83rd-minute header from Callum Ebanks proved to only be a consolation goal. 

History suggests this fixture has been largely dictated by Barnet, who have won six of the 10 meetings between the pair, while Eastleigh have won just three. The only draw between the teams came last season at the Hive where it finished 1-1.

Head-to-Head (Last Five):

29/08/22: Barnet 3-1 Eastleigh 

23/04/22: Eastleigh 2-3 Barnet 

11/09/21: Barnet 1-1 Eastleigh 

15/05/21: Eastleigh 3-0 Barnet 

03/10/20: Barnet 1-5 Eastleigh 

By Sajidur Rahman