Birmingham v Bolton – Pick: Over 2.5 – 02 April 2011

Premier League Tips

 

BIRMINGHAM CITY v BOLTON WANDERERS
Premier League
Saturday 2nd April 2011 – Kickoff 3pm
Premier league action resumes this weekend following the break to accommodate the European qualifying group matches, and a return to St Andrews where the hosts Birmingham City take on a Bolton side that recently dumped them out of the FA Cup, once again renewing rivalries but the prize on offer today will be three valuable points.
Ask any Blues fan and they’ll gladly swap progressing further in the FA Cup for a vital three points at home, particularly when you have to travel to the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham in the run-in.
The break has done Birmingham a few favours as it has allowed numerous squad members to recover from injuries such as Roger Johnson, Craig Gardner and Barry Ferguson. Manager McLeish has also hinted that Blues will come out to attack and are really fired up and looking forward to this fixture, and they know that they need to make home advantage count more than ever right now.
Blues’ home record stands at an unremarkable 4-7-4 14/18, which is a far cry from where they were this time last season. But such is the competitiveness of the Premiership, particularly this season, where all three points could propel them up as high as 13th or 14th spot. Blues will also be looking to avenge their recent cup defeat to the Trotters when they lost 2-3.
Only 5 out of their 15 home matches so far have resulted in over 2.5 goals, and indeed all the stats are against goals in today’s fixture, but you also have to bear in mind the motivation and the need to take all three points now. Gardner & Zigic (5 goals apiece) lead the scoring, but David Bentley can also conjure something from nothing, while Seb Larsson has provided 5 assists.
Visitors Bolton will also be gunning for the three points today as they prepare their final assault for a European place. Without an away win now for eight matches, they’ll need to make a vast improvement on their away form if they are to have any chance of toppling Tottenham’s grip into the Europa league. Ironically, their opponents today who are battling against relegation have already booked their European spot.
Their away form stands at a strange reversal of their home form 2-5-8 14/22, and this will also give the hosts some hope. However, Elmander (9 goals) and Kevin Davies (7 goals), who also seems to score against Birmingham, are very dangerous, along with Daniel Sturridge and winger Martin Petrov.
The Verdict: It’s a brave man to back over 2.5 goals whenever Birmingham are at home, but I think it’s do or die for Blues now and they have to win their remaining home matches to have any chance of staying up – hence the reason why I think there will be goals in this one. Bolton are also more than capable of creating and scoring as we saw in their cup match. An entertaining 2-2 draw could be on the cards.
Main Pick: Over 2.5 @ a tempting 2.10 courtesy of bet365