Eng. Championship
2013-03-05 - Birmingham City vs Blackpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps
Football : England : Championship
Tuesday 5th March - Kickoff 7:45pm
Birmingham City
Birmingham City were well beaten 5-2 at Hull City on Saturday. The loss leaves the Blues in 17th but a very comfortable 6 points clear of the drop zone.
Clark's side were 2 unbeaten before their loss on Saturday. The defeat is the 2nd in 4 games but going further back it's 2 losses in 9 so they are not in the worst form despite Saturday's hiding.
At home it's 1 win in 7 league games now for the Blues. 1 loss in 4 is decent enough but the side has become draw happy in recent weeks taking a point in 4 of the last 7 home games.
Birmingham have failed to scored in the last 2 home games having scored 2 in back to back games before hand. In the last 11 home games Birmingham has either scored 2 or more or none at all which is an amazing statistic. Defensively, the clean sheet against Wednesday is their first in 9 at home having conceded 7 in the last 3 before hand at over 2 a game.
Blackpool
Blackpool drew 0-0 at home to Bristol City on Saturday in a game ruined by the awful pitch at Bloomfield Road. Blackpool are 1 place above Birmingham in 16th and like this hosts are too far away from the top 6 and look too good to get drawn into the bottom 3.
Ince's side have drawn their last 2 league games 0-0 and haven't scored in 4 straight now. This side was/is a very attacking one that is always good for goals but all of a sudden they look toothless in attack.
Away from home it's back to back defeats and 4 in the last 5. Their only win in this run came at Wolves a side struggling down the table. Blackpool were 5 unbeaten in the back end of 2012 so this poor form in 2013 is surprising.
No away goals in 2 straight games is a concern as outlined above. Before that they scored 5 in 3 but having failed to score in 4 overall I'm not confident they score on Tuesday. At the back it's 9 without a clean sheet and the combo of conceding and not scoring explains their lack of success on the road.
Betting Verdict
The bookies can't split the 2 sides which isn't a shock given how lackluster both have been in recent weeks. Both are not definitely safe but I can't see either getting too drawn into the bottom 3.
As a result I expect both will be happy with a point in this one and we could see a dour encounter. Birmingham draw a lot of games at home, they are struggling for goals at the minute but the defence isn't great either.
The visitors haven't scored in 4 games overall, 2 on the road and have lost 4 of their last 5 away games. Unders looks huge at near evens with Pinnaclesports as neither know where the net is in recent weeks.
However, I will be bold and take the draw. I'm off the unders because both can't keep clean sheets and I really like 1-1 here. The risk is 2-1 either way with Birmingham the most likely to net the 2 goals so given the variance in odds I'd rather take the draw with a bigger return than unders.
Good Luck
The Pick :
Birmingham City 1-1 Blackpool
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take The Draw at 3.40 General Quote
