BURTON ALBION v BIRMINGHAM CITY
Friday 18th August 2017 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Football – England – Championship Betting Tips
There’s one game in the Championship on Friday night, and it features two teams that found themselves in the bottom half of the Championship last term with Burton Albion taking on Birmingham City at the Pirelli Stadium.
Burton fought bravely against relegation throughout last season under the guidance of manager Nigel Clough who is in his second spell at the helm of The Brewers, and indeed, they ensured their Championship survival with a game in hand, which was lucky as they lost 4-2 at home to Reading on the final day of the season!
The odds seem firmly stacked against the east midlands club again for this season though, on the back of 10 defeats on home turf last season (only Wolves 11 and relegated Rotherham United 12) suffered more home defeats than them last term. In addition, Burton have lost all three league matches so far with losses to Cardiff City, Hull City and Middlesbrough, while new signing, striker Liam Boyce (from Ross County), will be out injured for some time.
Onto Birmingham City, and they shared a frustrating 0-0 draw with Bolton Wanderers at St Andrews in midweek with a lack of quality up front being the hosts’ main problem, an aspect that was bemoaned by Blues manager, Harry Redknapp.
Blues have produced mixed results so far in these early weeks of the new second tier campaign, following defeat at Ipswich Town, they’ve bounced back with a 2-1 home win over Bristol City but then drew 0-0 with Bolton.
Nevertheless, a win for Redknapp’s side would be a good start to the season, and new signing Vassell could feature this evening at some point. defender Morrison is expected to play with a protective mask after he broke his nose, while Ryan Shotton is back in the squad as his wife gave birth a couple of days ago. Midfielder N’Doye could be doubtful, but Davis is standing by to replace him if need be.
Both teams will be keen not to lose this one, particularly Burton Albion, so I’m expecting another dour and low-scoring hard fought clash.
Pick: Under 2.5 @ 1.62 Betfair
