Dominik Frieser starts: The predicted Barnsley XI to face Cardiff | OneFootball

Barnsley travel to Cardiff City on Saturday looking to get off to a strong start to the campaign as they aim to begin a new era in the right fashion.

Just a few short months ago the Tykes were competing in the play-offs having been led there against all the odds by Valerien Ismael and they looked a side capable of achieving what seemed to be the impossible dream of promotion to the Premier League.

However, since their defeat against Swansea City in the play-off semi-finals, Barnsley have seen three massive figures for the club depart.

Ismael has made the switch to West Brom following their relegation to the Championship while CEO Dane Murphy has headed to Nottingham Forest and Alex Mowatt has followed his old manager to the Hawthorns.

Barnsley reacted swiftly to the departure of Ismael and they have put their faith in Markus Schopp to continue the good work done by the 45-year-old but also put his own stamp of authority around Oakwell.

Given the success that both Gerhardt Struber and Ismael had in the role, you would expect good things from the 47-year-old.

The Tykes have added to their squad since the end of last season with the likes of Devante Cole, Obbi Oulare, Josh Benson and Aaron Leya Iseka all arriving at Oakwell.

While Marcel Ritzmaier, Conor Chaplin and Michael Sollbauer have joined Mowatt in being notable departures from the club.

25 quiz questions about Barnsley and Markus Schopp as 21/22 season edges closer – Can you score 100% correct?

1 of 25

In what year were Barnsley founded?

1885

1886

1887

1888

With that change in mind, we take a look at how Schopp could look to line-up against Cardiff City in his first league game in charge of the club…

Schopp has been using a similar sort of 3-4-3 system that Ismael deployed with the Tykes during pre-season and therefore the expectation would be that he will stick with that for the opening game against Cardiff on Saturday.

However, there might well be a chance for him to mix things up slightly from what was done before.

In goal, you would expect Brad Collins to maintain his position as the club’s first-choice between the sticks after his impressive form during the second half of last season in the Championship.

Barnsley have seen the influential Sollbauer depart the club during the off-season and he will be a difficult player to replace within their back three, while Mads Andersen continues his recovery from a knee injury.

Schopp could therefore decide to bring in Liam Kitching on the left-hand side with Michael Helik remaining a vital player and Tony Sibbick starting on the right-hand side.

In the wing-back positions, Barnsley could be looking to a new player to perform the left-wing-back role that Callum Styles did so impressively last term. The choice is between Clark Odour and Jordan Williams and it will be an interesting battle to see who becomes the first-choice. For the game against Cardiff, we are backing Williams to get the nod.

In the midfield two, Styles could come in to try and replace the sizeable loss of Mowatt and he will be relied upon heavily to perform well in a more natural role for him.

Alongside him Schopp faces a difficult choice between new signing Josh Benson and Romal Palmer. We are backing Palmer to make the starting line-up for the opening match.

In the front three, Cauley Woodrow should be a guaranteed starter following Chaplin’s departure and also Daryl Dike’s exit at the end of his loan spell.

Carlton Morris could be a crucial player next term for the Tykes and he should start while Dominik Frieser should also get the chance to impress.