Barnet v FC Halifax Town preview
Here is our preview of FC Halifax Town’s National League game against Barnet.
Venue: The Hive
Date: Saturday, December 21
Kick-off: 3pm
Referee: Stephen Parkinson has shown 64 yellow cards and four red cards in 15 games this season. He took charge of Town's 3-0 win at Eastleigh on the last day of last season as well as their 1-1 draw at York City in October last year.
Odds: Barnet 12/25, draw 3/1, Halifax 1½
In the league this season
Barnet: 1st - PL22 W15 D2 L5 F46 A25 GD21 Pts47
Halifax: 9th - PL22 W9 D7 L6 F25 A22 GD3 Pts34
Last five games
Barnet: Woking (h) W 2-0, Yeovil (a) W 2-1, Hartlepool (a) D 0-0, Aveley (FAT h) W 2-0, Ebbsfleet (h) W 4-1
Halifax: Southend (h) L 2-0, Leeds under 21s (NLC h) D 2-2 (lost on penalties), Basford (FAT a) D 2-2 (lost on penalties), Sutton (h) D 0-0, Aldershot (a) W 4-3
Manager: Former Wealdstone manager Dean Brennan took over from previous boss Harry Kewell having been head of football at The Hive and has done an impressive job. He has guided The Bees to the play-offs in the last two seasons.
Last season: 2nd in the National League
One to watch: Former Portsmouth, Hartlepool and Northampton forward Nicke Kabamba has been a huge part of Barnet's success over the last couple of years, scoring 19 goals last season, including scoring home and away against Halifax, before netting 25 league goals last term - only bettered by Eastleigh's Paul McCallum.
Head-to-head: Played 33, Barnet wins 14, draws 9, Halifax wins 10
Last time they met: Goals from Jamie Cooke and Adam Adetoro saw Town beat Barnet 2-1 on the opening day of the season.
Match facts: No team in the National League has conceded fewer goals away from home this season than Halifax (8)
Barnet are the highest scorers in the National League this season, with 46 goals.
The Bees have won more home games in the division than any other team (10) and have conceded the least goals at home too (6)
Barnet are without a defeat in the league for the last two months and have won six of their last nine games in all competitions.
The Bees have only failed to score once in 13 home matches this season.
Saturday's National League fixtures:
Forest Green v Aldershot Woking v Altrincham Barnet v Halifax York v Southend Ebbsfleet v Gateshead Rochdale v Boston Utd Eastleigh v Maidenhead Hartlepool v Yeovil Braintree v Oldham Sutton Utd v Tamworth Wealdstone v Dag & Red Solihull M v Fylde