Plymouth Argyle vs Barnsley – Preview, Lineups, Where To Watch | OneFootball

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Fixture: Plymouth Argyle vs Barnsley Competition: League One Kick-off: 2nd August, 15:00 UK Time

Recently-relegated Championship outfit Plymouth Argyle are set to take on Barnsley inside Home Park in their opening game of the 2025/26 League One season.

Plymouth were one of the three teams to have gone down last season and face a huge challenge to provide an immediate response by bouncing straight back up.

The struggles have not been new, Plymouth narrowly avoided the drop at the end of the 2023/24 season.

They decided to put their faith in Wayne Rooney for the 2024/25 campaign and by the time they realised that they had put faith in the wrong man, it was too late. Miron Muslic was left with little time to repair the damage and he failed to be the messiah they needed.

Argyle were ready to back Muslic, but he departed for German side Schalke and they brought in Tom Cleverley to succeed him.

The former Watford manager was out of work after being sacked in May. His tenure as manager was not totally unimpressive as the Hornets managed to flirt with promotion for a time before fading away.

Cleverley will be aware that he has tough task on his hands with as far as 17 players having left the squad following their relegation and although they have brought in fresh faces they might need time gel.

Plymouth will be welcomed back to League One by Barnsley, who are a well established in the third tier, but finished 12th last season which prompted them to go through a summer restructure of the squad.

Barnsley have Conor Hourihane in charge and this is his first big job being the top man of the club and all eyes will be on him to see whether he can get them out of the League One, which his recent predecessors have failed to do despite coming close in few occasions.

Hourihane’s new look squad will have a lot to prove to the fans as they visit Devon to take on Plymouth and they will be hoping for good start.

New Additions

Plymouth Argyle

Tom Cleverley’s side have focused on bringing in young players focusing heavily on their forward department while also taking care of the job at the back.

Aribim Pepple

Bradley Ibrahim

Brendan Wiredu

Owen Oseni

Jack MacKenzie

Xavier Amaechi

Jamie Paterson

Ayman Benarous

Caleb Watts

Luca Ashby-Hammond

Barnsley

The Oakwell outfit have focused on finding balance between youth and experience in their recruiting process to strengthen the areas where they are light after the departure of senior names.

David McGoldrick Patrick Kelly Reyes Cleary Nathanael Ogbeta Murphy Cooper Caylan Vickers

Recent Form (league)

Plymouth Argyle: LWWLW Barnsley: WLDLW

Key Men

Plymouth Argyle

For the League One new boys, an X-factor can well be their manager, Tom Cleverley, who has gathered valuable managerial experience at Watford and is raring to go.

Goalkeeper Conor Hazard will be put to the test given the kind of strength Barnsley have in their attack. However, a lot will depend on the ability of the outfield players to hit the away side on the break.

The Pilgrims brought Aribim Pepple from Luton Town this summer and Cleverley will put his faith in the 22-year-old, who showed promise in League Two last season while on loan to Chesterfield.

Barnsley

Barnsley’s manager, Conor Hourihane, knows League One like the back of his hand. He tasted on-field action last year as well and can share his experience with the team this year.

They have taken a chance with former Southampton, Sheffield United and Derby County star David McGoldrick. Though he is 37 already and will turn 38 in November, his experience will be vital when they step into Home Park on Saturday.

Against a team that have quality players, Barnsley’s ability to dig deep will be crucial. A lot can be resting on the shoulders of the two central defenders – Mael de Gevigney and Kacper Lopata.

Match Prediction

Given that the two teams were playing in different divisions last season, there will be a lack of knowledge about the opposition in both camps. However, one thing that cannot be denied is the fact that Plymouth do have some quality players at their disposal given their status as a Championship team last season.

Plymouth fans will be hoping for their team to start on a front foot at Home Park, but the visiting side might take a defensive approach, hoping to take advantage of transitions.

Barnsley might look to hit them on a counter attack and test the resolve of Plymouth’s defence with veteran McGoldrick leading the attack.

Where To Watch?