Barnet v FC Halifax Town preview

Venue: The Hive

Date: Saturday, September 23

Kick-off: 3pm

Referee: John Mulligan has shown four yellow cards and one red card in two National League games this season. This is his first season officiating at National League level and this will be his first time in charge of a match involving The Shaymen.

Odds: Barnet win 8/11, draw 5/2, Halifax win 17/4

In the league this season

Barnet: PL10 W7 D1 L2 F21 A13 GD8 Pts22

Halifax: PL10 W3 D4 L3 F10 A10 GD0 Pts13

Last five games

Barnet: Ebbsfleet (h) W 3-2, Boreham Wood (a) W 1-0, Altrincham (h) W 3-0, Rochdale (a) L 4-2, Aldershot (h) W 2-1

Halifax: Solihull (a) D 1-1, Gateshead (h) D 0-0, Rochdale (a) W 1-0, Southend (h) D 1-1, Dorking (h) L 1-0, Chesterfield (a) L 3-2

Scorers

Barnet: Kabamba (9), Collinge (5), Brunt (3), Oluwo (2), Kanu (2)

Halifax: Harker (3), Senior (2), Alli (2), Evans, Cummings, Summerfield

Manager: Former Wealdstone manager Dean Brennan took over from previous boss Harry Kewell early on last season having been head of football at The Hive and has done an impressive job. He guided The Bees to the play-offs last season before losing to Boreham Wood.

Last season: 5th in National League

One to watch: No-one has scored more goals in the top five divisions of English football so far this season than Nicke Kabamba. The former Portsmouth, Hartlepool and Northampton forward has been a huge part of Barnet's success over the last 12 months or so, scoring 19 goals last season, including scoring home and away against Halifax.

Head-to-head: Played 30, Barnet wins 13, draws 8, Halifax wins 9

Last time they met: Milli Alli gave Halifax an early lead against Barnet at The Shay in February, but The Bees fought back to win thanks to goals from Harry Smith, Nicke Kabamba and Moussa Diarra.

Match facts: Only Solihull Moors have conceded fewer goals in the National League so far this season than Halifax (10).

Barnet have a 100 per cent home record this season having won all five of their matches at The Hive.

Only Maidenhead and Kidderminster have scored fewer goals in the division so far this season than Halifax (10).

Only leaders Chesterfield have won more games in the National League this season than Barnet (7), while only Chesterfield and Gateshead have scored more goals than The Bees (21).

Only Chesterfield have scored more goals at home in the fifth tier this season than Barnet (13).

Halifax's last win at Barnet was in April 2014, when they won 4-0. Since then they have failed to win in six visits.

Barnet have scored three goals in a game on four occasions this season, something Halifax have failed to do at all so far this campaign.

The Bees have scored in nine of their first ten games of the season.

Saturday's National League fixtures:

Woking v York

Gateshead v Maidenhead

Barnet v Halifax

Southend v Fylde

Altrincham v Ebbsfleet

Boreham W v Aldershot

Oldham v Oxford C

Chesterfield v Wealdstone

Eastleigh v Kidderminster

Dorking W v Rochdale

Solihull M v Bromley

Dag & Red v Hartlepool