- Team form: Birmingham City have won one, drawn one and lost three of their last five Championship games.
- Team form: Bristol City have won two, drawn one and lost two of their last five Championship games.
Blues can edge out a solid Robins side
Birmingham City and Bristol City are both in decent positions in the Championship table with 57 and 58 points respectively from 43 games, good for 14th and 10th places. The Blues look to have a little more quality in the squad and are just the favorites at 1.89 to beat the Robins on Saturday, but there is little between the two clubs at this stage of the season.
Birmingham have had some good results recently, beating Wrexham 2-0 and drawing 1-1 at Hull City. At home, Birmingham City has 1 win and 1 loss in their last two matches, underlining some inconsistency.
Marvin Ducksch is their main goal threat with ten in 33 Championship appearances, but Carlos Vicente has stepped up recently with two of the last four.
Bristol are a solid but unspectacular team and Roy Hodgson’s appointment as interim manager should see them adopt a more conservative approach. The Robins, who beat Birmingham 1-0 in the Championship five months ago, will press less and allow the ball to do the work more.
They are unbeaten in their last two Championship away assignments with a draw at QPR, but a 4-2 defeat to Norwich City at home shows how vulnerable they can be.
- Marvin Ducksch is their main goal threat with ten in 33 Championship appearances, but Carlos Vicente has stepped up recently with two of the last four.
- Chris Davies’ side have scored 35 goals in 21 home Championship matches this season, averaging just over 1.6 per game.
- Scott Twine, who has scored 11 in 42 Championship appearances, will be the main threat for Bristol City, but they are not prolific on their travels with 23 goals in 21 games.
Side with the Blues in closely matched game
Defensive shape and Hodgson's influence
Hodgson will have them more solid than the side that beat them 4-2, but they are not a free-scoring team, which may work against them at St Andrew’s.
Birmingham's style and prediction
Birmingham are a compact 4-4-2 side who press in a disciplined way and can be very dangerous in transition when they win the ball back high up the field. Chris Davies’ side have scored 35 goals in 21 home Championship matches this season, averaging just over 1.6 per game.
Backing the hosts to edge this game could be the play with St Andrew’s having become a tough place for visiting teams to travel to since Davies took over.
Scott Twine, who has scored 11 in 42 Championship appearances, will be the main threat for Bristol City, but they are not prolific on their travels with 23 goals in 21 games.
This should be a chess match with Birmingham’s style likely to frustrate the visitors, who have a tendency to get the ball wide and break quickly. The hosts are the more organised side and we will take them to nick a win in what could be a close encounter.
