Eng. Championship
2012-08-25 - Watford vs Birmingham City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Saturday 25 August 2012 - Kick Off 5:20pm
This game is live on TV
Watford
After being taken over by the Pozzo family in the Summer, Watford have been given the opportunity to bring in some talent from Udinese, another club that the Pozzo's own, and have appointed Gianfranco Zola to oversee the new playing style. As expected, there have been some inconsistencies in their play so far.
Watford scored two late goals to beat Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season, but they then conceded a late goal in their first home game as they lost to Ipswich Town 0-1. The Hornets didn't perform well against Ipswich, but they did create some opportunities and that could bode well for their future.
The side won 10 of their 23 League games at Vicarage Road last season, although they have now lost 2 of their last 4 home games in the League. A concern for Zola will be the fact that Watford have failed to score in 4 of their last 8 home games going back to February.
Marco Cassetti is the latest player to arrive on-loan from Udinese and he is in the squad for this game. John Eustace missed the game against Ipswich and needs to pass a late fitness test for this game.
Birmingham City
I am not sure how most of the Birmingham City fans would be viewing this start of the season under Lee Clark as they have picked up just 1 point from two League games against sides that were promoted last season. In fact, they were close to being stuck without a point if not for a late equaliser in their opening game.
Birmingham were trailing Charlton 0-1 at St Andrews before Nikola Zigic scored an equaliser with the final kick of the game. The team then travelled to Sheffield Wednesday and lost 3-2 in an entertaining game and the fears that this could be a much more difficult season compared with last year have picked up steam.
The team were one of the more entertaining away sides in the Championship last season with their 23 League games providing a total of 78 goals and the 3-2 loss at Hillsborough suggests it could be more of the same this season. Birmingham have failed to win any of their last 5 away games in the Championship and have just 2 wins from their last 10.
Stephen Carr is going to need to pass a late fitness test for this game, while Ravel Morrison is in the squad. Nikola Zigic and Marlon King are likely to start as a front two in this one.
Head to Head
Watford earned just 1 point from their two League games against Birmingham City last season, that coming in a 2-2 draw here at Vicarage Road.
The last 4 games between these two teams here have all come in the second tier of English football and has seen both sides win 1 and 2 draws.
Prediction
This is another tough game to call and one where I again favour seeing a few goals.
Birmingham City have been involved in a number of high-scoring games away from home in the Championship since their relegation from the Premier League and their first away game proved to be more of the same as they were beaten 3-2.
They have only failed to score in 1 of their last 14 away games in the Division, but their clean sheet record is even worse as they have 1 in 17 away games.
Watford have had an investment over the Summer and are implementing a new playing style, but their lack of goals could be a problem throughout this season. Well it isn't a lack of goals, it is making sure they score in enough games and failing to do so in 4 of their last 8 home games in the Championship is not good enough.
While they have failed to score in 4 of their last 8, they have also hit at least 2 goals in 6 of their last 12 at Vicarage Road and that goes to show that they are capable of getting on the scoreboard.
5 of the last 6 games between these teams has seen at least 3 goals being scored in the match, and that includes 2 of the last 3 at Vicarage Road.
My biggest fear is the game ends in a 1-1 draw, but the overs should be a little shorter than the prices I have seen and I will back that to be the outcome.
The Pick :
Watford 2-2 Birmingham City
