Eng. Championship
2013-03-05 - Birmingham City vs Blackpool
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Tuesday 5 March 2013 - Kick Off 7:45pm
Birmingham City
A 5-2 thumping at Hull City would have been a huge disappointment for the Birmingham City fans, particularly as it came against former manager Steve Bruce's latest side. However, they were unfortunate that a lot of the sides below them failed to win, and that means Birmingham City are still in a spot of bother this season.
The loss at the KC Stadium meant Birmingham City stayed in 17th place in the Championship, although they only have a 6 point lead over Peterborough United and Wolves in the relegation zone. The Blues have a 5-6-6 record at St Andrews this season, scoring 20 goals and conceding 27 in those games.
Birmingham have only won 1 of their last 5 games in the Championship, although they have only lost 2 of their last 9 games. Both of those defeats are 'acceptable' as they came against Hull City and Watford who both sit in the top three. However, a more concerning run of form has seen Birmingham win just 1 of their last 7 here in the Championship, even if they have lost just 2 of their last 8 at St Andrews.
Blackpool
Paul Ince arrived at Bloomfield Road as the third manager to sit in the dugout this season for Blackpool. His arrival hasn't seen Blackpool start picking up form and they are in real danger of sinking into a relegation scrap that would have been unexpected for a team that was playing Premier League football just two seasons ago.
The weekend results saw Blackpool move down to 16th in the Championship and they, like opponents Birmingham City, are just 6 points clear of the relegation zone. Blackpool have a 5-4-8 away record this season, scoring 22 goals and conceding 27 in those games.
Blackpool have failed to win any of their last 4 games in the Championship and they have even failed to score a single goal in that run of results. The side have earned back to back goalless draws at Bloomfield Road, but come to St Andrews having lost 4 of their last 5 away games in the Championship including back to back defeats at Ipswich Town and Leeds United without scoring a goal.
Head to Head
Blackpool and Birmingham City played out a 1-1 draw at Bloomfield Road earlier this season.
The sides met here twice last season as Birmingham beat Blackpool 3-0 in the League game, before Blackpool earned a 2-2 draw here in the Play Off Semi Final to move through to the Final they eventually lost to West Ham United.
Birmingham have won 6 of their last 8 home games against Blackpool and only been beaten once in that run.
Prediction
I was very surprised that Blackpool decided to take on Paul Ince as their new manager simply because he has had no real consistent success in his managerial jobs in the past. It seems Ince is finding it hard to get his methods across as Blackpool have continued to struggle under his guidance and can't score goals at the moment.
With that in mind, I am surprised that Birmingham City are the underdog in this game, even with a poor home run they are currently on. However, I think the Birmingham team certainly do have goals in them and I can see them doing enough to pick up a vital three points to give themselves breathing room, and leave Blackpool in real trouble.
The Pick :
Birmingham City 2-1 Blackpool
