ASTON VILLA v BIRMINGHAM CITY
Sunday 23rd April 2017 – Kickoff: 1200hrs
Football – England – Championship Betting Tips
Sunday lunchtime’s second city derby between hosts Aston Villa and visitors Birmingham City in the Championship will take on even more meaning than just the usual bragging rights as The Blues are in deep relegation trouble.
Birmingham’s current plight won’t be lost on Aston Villa fans of course as they urge their side on in order to avoid a third consecutive defeat in the Championship following recent losses to Reading and Fulham. It’s been a disappointing season for Villa under Steve Bruce who is facing one of his former clubs today as his side sit in mid-table which is an under achievement for a side that should have been challenging for at least a play-off spot.
It’s been Aston Villa’s poor results away from home though that have held them back in this campaign, while their record at home has been impressive with stats of 11-7-3 31/19. Bruce will be without striker and leading goalscorer Kodjia (19 goals) who serves a one match suspension, but his place is likely to be filled by Agbonlahor who has a good goalscoring record against Birmingham.
Onto Birmingham City, and the visitors will be desperate to register any sort of result here as their relegation worries have deepened following wins for Nottingham Forest and Burton Albion yesterday. The Blues now find themselves perched just above the relegation zone with just two points separating them from third from bottom club blackburn Rovers ahead of this massive derby clash.
It’s been a sharp decline in fortunes for Birmingham following the controversial sacking of former manager Gary Rowett earlier in the season (following a 2-1 home win over Ipswich Town), in what was an absolutely disastrous and catastrophic decision by the club’s new Chinese owners, Trillion Trophy Asia Limited. The appointment of Gianfranco Zola yielded just two league wins from 22 matches, spanning a desperately miserable four months.
Finally, Zola resigned following Birmingham’s 2-0 defeat at home to relegation rivals Burton Albion and Harry Redknapp has replaced him in a bid to revive Birmingham’s fortunes. Redknapp will be hoping that first choice goalkeeper Kuszczak returns from a shoulder injury, while forward Jutkiewicz is also expected to return.
This promises to be a tense local derby not least because of Birmingham’s predicament, and I don’t think there’ll be many goals as a result.
Pick: Under 2.5 @ 1.76 Unibet
