Birmingham welcome in-form Sheffield United to the Second City on Friday night for an intriguing Championship clash. Mark O’Haire shares his favourite fancy.
“With Birmingham struggling for form, conceding multiple goals in seven of their last nine matches and winless at home to top-half teams, I’m happy to support Sheffield United”
Bowyer frustrated with Birmingham
Birmingham boss Lee Bowyer tore into Blues team after they conceded two goals in the final seven minutes to allow Derby to salvage a 2-2 draw at Pride Park. City appeared to be coasting at 2-0 with goals from Lyle Taylor and Scott Hogan – only to be pegged back as Luke Plange halved the deficit and Krystian Bielik equalised with the last kick of the contest.
The finale left Bowyer raging post-match, particularly after seeing his side miss so many chances to put the match to bed. He said, “It’s so frustrating, Obviously it hurts but the game should have been over. They should not have been in the game. We can’t keep missing simple chances – that’s what’s costing us. I’m saying the same rubbish every week.”
Bowyer has attempted to refresh his side in forward areas during the transfer window – as well as Taylor’s arrival, Onel Hernandez and Juninho Bacuna have arrived at St Andrew’s. And the Birmingham chief switched systems to a diamond formation to allow Hernandez an opportunity to impress. Meanwhile, Tahith Chong is close to a return to full fitness.
Sheffield United dominate the Posh
Billy Sharp became the Championship’s all-time leading scorer as Sheffield United cruised past struggling Peterborough at the Weston Homes Stadium last weekend with a cushy 2-0 triumph. Sharp broke the deadlock in the 53rd minute, putting the visitors deservedly ahead before Callum Morton poked the ball into his own net after 80 minutes to wrap up the win.
The Blades have moved to within six points of the play-off places with a fifth success in seven outings and head coach Paul Heckingbottom impressed by his team’s efforts. He said, “I’m pleased with the result and the performance, I thought, we were really strong from the first whistle to the last. We were patient and we got the rewards our pressure deserved.”
United won the shot count 20-3, and forced nine corners in the away encounter but it wasn’t all good news for the visitors. Rhian Brewster and Iliman Ndiate both succumbed to injury, although it later emerged the latter was only suffering from cramp. With Morgan Gibbs-White still unavailable, the Blades will hope to have Ndiate available for Saturday.
Birmingham boast a strong recent record against Sheffield United, suffering a solitary loss in the duos last eight league encounters (W3-D4-L1). That sample includes a 1-0 Blues triumph at Bramall Lane on the opening day of the current season, and the hosts have also claimed an excellent W6-D2-L1 return when hosting United at St Andrew’s since 1996.
Birmingham 3.8014/5 have managed a solitary success in 10 outings across all competitions and only two Championship triumphs in 13 attempts dating back to the beginning of November (W2-D5-L6). Blues rank 22nd in terms of Expected Points (xP) across their last 12 league dates and have W3-D5-L9 when taking on teams outside of the bottom-10.
Sheffield United 2.186/5 appear to be finding their range after an underperforming and underachieving opening to the campaign. The Blades have W6-D3-L2 in outings since November’s international break with Paul Heckingbottom’s troops sitting fifth on Expected Points (xP) across the whole season. United have W10-D6-L4 when excluding the top-seven.
Both Birmingham and Sheffield United present similar goal trends. Blues’ fixtures have averaged 2.62 goals per-game this season with the Blades’ encounters coming in for 2.58 goals – the two teams are each returning around a 50% success-rate for Over 2.5 Goals 2.1411/10 backers, although those figures increase when viewing home/away records.
With Birmingham struggling for form, conceding multiple goals in seven of their last nine matches and winless at home to top-half teams, I’m happy to support Sheffield United 0 & -0.5 in the Asian Handicap market at 1.865/6 this weekend. The selection sees us lose only half of our stake if the game ends all-square, with a Blades triumph returning profit and a pay-out.
Source: BetFair Tips
