Premiership
Birmingham City (17th) v Manchester United (1st)
Tuesday 28th December 2010 – 8pm
Birmingham City will be desperate to get something out of this game, and will probably look at a draw as being equal to a win when they host visitors top of the table Manchester United at St Andrews on Tuesday night.
The Blues are perilously close to the drop zone now, and are just two points above relegation rivals Fulham in 18th place while only three points separate them from basement dwellers West Ham. The very last team therefore that you need to entertain when in this position is Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.
On a more positive note, the bad weather has given The Blues time to re-group following their 0-1 loss to midlands rivals Wolves which seems an age away. In between times, the match against Everton was postponed and this has given midfielder Aleksander Hleb and defender Liam Ridgewell to recover from hamstring and illness respectively. Manager Alex McLeish attended United’s recent win against Sunderland with a view to tactical adjustments.
Blues have also put together a four match unbeaten run at home with wins over Blackpool 2-0 and rather unexpectedly, a 1-0 win over Chelsea with a creditable draw against Tottenham 1-1. A 2-2 draw against West Ham however will probably have been seen as two points dropped – incidentally, only two of Birmingham’s eight home matches so far have resulted in over 2.5 goals.
It will be interesting to see what formation McLeish adopts against United, I fancy he may opt to pack the midfield, leaving striker Cameron Jerome to operate alone up front; we’ll soon see I guess.
As always with Birmingham, goals have been at a premium at the attacking end, but have kept it tight at the back. Their home record reflects this in stark fashion; 3-4-1 8/6, and they have been hard to beat again this season. Only Sunderland & Chelsea have conceded fewer at home.
Onto Manchester United then; they seem to have gained top place at the moment through the inconsistency of Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal, whilst barely being tested to the limit themselves. This is an ominous sign for the rest of the division as there’s still another gear that United are capable of stepping up to. I just hope Birmingham aren’t the side that suffer the full wrath as Blackburn Rovers did when they got well and truly stuffed 7-1.
It’s almost textbook management from Alex Ferguson when you look at United’s home & away records this season; win at home, get a point away. United’s away stats read 1-6-0 11/10, and still remain the only side in the Premiership to be unbeaten at home or away.
Being the draw specialists away from home may just bode well for Birmingham as United’s only win came at Stoke City winning 2-1 in October.
Striker Dimitar Berbatov (13 goals, 2 assists) is in superlative form, and Nani (5 goals, 8 assists) has stepped up since the departure of Ronaldo, and is likely to be fit again for the trip to the midlands. Wayne Rooney, whilst not scoring lots of goals has turned provider this season with 6 assists, but obviously still remains a threat as does the evergreen Ryan Giggs whose direct running at the Sunderland defence ultimately led to United’s opening goal.
United however will be without Park Ji-Sung (4 goals, 1 assist) as he’s away on international duty in the Asian Cup, while Paul Scholes (1 goal, 2 assists) remains sidelined, and there are doubts over Darren Fletcher (2 goals, 3 assists) and John O’Shea (1 assist).
Head-to-head: Birmingham City haven’t beaten United at home since 1978, but they shared a 1-1 draw the last time these two met at St Andrews back in January this year. The three previous meeting to that, just a solitary goal separated them as United won 1-0 on all three occasions.
The Verdict: Birmingham City have shown they are hard to break down at home, and whilst a win is very unlikely, they may just sneak a draw depending on United’s mood. If United do win, I’m tipping they win by just one goal hence my selection.
Pick: Birmingham City AH +1 @ 1.95 with bet365
Side Bet: Dimitar Berbatov to score anytime @ 2.37 with bet365
