Eng. Championship
2011-12-07 - Hull City vs Birmingham City
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – Championship
Wednesday 7th December 2011 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
8th placed Hull City take on a drifting Birmingham City at the KC Stadium on Wednesday night as Hull look to take another three points and lift themselves into the play-off places.
Hull City
Hull City themselves have suffered a few hiccups of late and as a result have turned in some inconsistent performances.
This is evident when you consider Hull's last six matches results; L-L-W-L-L-W, with wins over Derby County and Leicester City and losses to Barnsley, West Ham, Burnley and Southampton. At home, they’ve also recorded wins over Reading, Portsmouth, Cardiff City and Watford.
The Tigers’ home record therefore stands at 5-0-4 11/11 but they need to be more consistent in front of their home crowd. In terms of goals, former Leicester City striker Matty Fryatt (8 goals, 1 assist) leads the way along with midfielder Robert Koren (5 goals, 2 assists) and former Peterborough United hit-man Aaron Mclean (3 goals, 2 assists) who was an absolute assassin a few seasons ago with The Posh in League Two hitting 29 league goals. Midfielder Tom Cairney (4 assists) has been their main provider.
Birmingham City
Onto the visitors then; I’m starting to grow tired of the excuses that we’re hearing as Blues fans.
A shot took a massive deflection which won them the game (v Sporting Braga 0-1). Question: Why was striker Nikola Zigic nominated as the penalty-taker when he has just returned to fitness and has started only 4 matches this season? Aside from not being noted as a penalty taker anyway, it’s abundantly clear that he’s totally bereft of confidence and Birmingham’s game plan should rather be focusing on a front pairing of Chris Woods and Adam Rooney – I believe that is when Blues play their best attacking football instead of accommodating a, let’s face it, Serbian Kevin Francis!
Okay, whinge over – Blues have won just once in their last six Championship matches and seem to be slowly but surely drifting away from at least a play-off place which would have been manager Chris Hughton’s pre-season brief. They are now 14 points adrift of second placed West Ham who occupy the last remaining automatic promotion place, and are now six points adrift of a revived Brighton who are sixth with 32 points.
Birmingham’s poor away record is one of the catalysts contributing to their steady fall down the table with a record of 2-2-5 12/16, but bizarrely, after everything I’ve said, I believe they can grab at least a point at the KC on Wednesday night.
It is now absolutely imperative they convert these games in hand to points, and against an inconsistent home side like Hull City this could be the match to turn their fortunes around.
The Betting Verdict :
I’ll back Birmingham City with the handicap at a generous price and tip a 1-1 draw (Zigic will probably score!).
BEST BETTING TIP :
Value Pick :Consider a bet on Birmingham City to win @ 3.21 Pinnacle
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
