- Barrow FC have failed to win any of their last three away H2H encounters
- Gillingham have won two and lost two of their six home matches this season.
- Barrow FC are the form team, but the hosts should still justify being the favourites.
Gills looking for another cup upset
It's a meeting of League Two Gillingham with National League Barrow FC in an FA Cup First Round tie where Gillingham are clear favourites, but the visitors will have their work cut out to notch the biggest scalp of the round.
Gillingham bounced back from a 1-4 home defeat to Grimsby Town by beating Shrewsbury Town 2-1 away in League Two and following that up with a 1-1 home draw against Port Vale.
That's a mixed bag of results that reads as two wins, one draw and two defeats across their last five games and it's a stretch of form that is not yet red hot.
The Bluebirds are on the up
Barrow FC are very much the form side after going unbeaten in their last five matches (W3, D2), results that included a 3-2 away win against Halifax Town followed by a 1-1 draw at home to Eastleigh.
They come into this matchup having won three away games in a row, so Adam Murray's side will be arriving at MEMS Priestfield with a swagger about them.
Gareth Ainsworth has turned Gillingham into an interesting back-three side that plays with tempo, direct running and presses high to force turnovers. Meanwhile, Barrow FC are a workmanlike unit that gets their ball into the box with crosses and set pieces and plays on the counter.
History and head-to-head
This matchup looks like it will be a real cup scrap as these two contrasting styles face off, but Gillingham should edge out a win when all is said and done. The head-to-head shows that the Gills have won three of the last five meetings, losing once and drawing once.
Gillingham are the overwhelming favourites here, but I am not entirely convinced about them just yet, so I'm going to take the 67/100 price for them to edge out the win here at home.
Barrow FC are huge price at 387/100 and the draw is 27/10, so this is a clash to get involved with only at the prices we are getting.
Gillingham beat Barrow 1-0 in League Two eight months ago, so the head-to-head just about edges things towards the home side.
The verdict
Gillingham to win and both teams to score no will be the main selection for this cup clash, given the contrasting styles of the two sides.
Ronan Hale has been Gillingham's man in form in recent weeks with four of his six goals scored in the last five Gills games and he looks lethal in the box, so back him to get on the scoresheet at some point against Barrow on Saturday.
