English Premier
2009-12-26 - Birmingham City vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps
Birmingham
Last 5 at Home - P5 – W4–D1–L0 – F6–A2
Alex McLeish’s men have been one of the surprise packages this season and sitting in a healthy 7th position just 7 points away from a Champions League place. Now how many blues fans would of expected that come Decemeber 22nd?
The Blues are on a fantastic 9 game unbeaten run in which McLeish’s men have taken 21 points out of a possible 27 which includes two games against "heavyweights" in Liverpool and Man City. The Blues are starting to show they are no push overs and are a competitive side.
The last time they lost was away @ Arsenal on the 17th October, with the last home loss coming against Bolton in September. Confidence is high at St Andrews and the Blues will certainly be “up” for a game against the current league leaders Chelsea in the early Boxing Day kick off.
The defence is key for the Brummies, McLeish an ex-defender has certainly installed discipline at the back and it’s showing, in the last 8 games only 6 goals have been conceded and in the last 9 games that they have remained unbeaten the opposing side has scored twice or more only twice! If Birmingham brings their A-Game at the back they could cause an upset against Chelsea.
Team news is that the Blues are hopeful Roger Johnson and Liam Ridgewell will be fit to face Chelsea and therefore the same side that battled soo well recently at Goodison. These two crucial defenders obviously make up half of the back four and for the Blues to keep their name sake “blues” out on Saturday I imagine they need to both be fit.
The other piece of team news is that Damien Johnson returns to the squad after a long term injury but is unlikely to feature after his long absence. Bowyer and Ferguson will try to boss the midfield for the B’ham and MUST compete physically with Chelsea’s powerhouse midfield, whilst the pacey Benetiz and Jerome partnership could be in for a frustrating day against Carvalho and Terry.
However, in recent weeks Chelsea has looked shaky at the back and this is an ideal time to exploit any weaknesses and uncertainties in the London sides back line. Can the Blues make it 10 unbeaten come the end of Saturday?
Predicted Birmingham City Lineup :
Hart, Carr, R Johnson, Ridgewell, Dann; Ferguson, Larsson, Bowyer, McFadden; Benitez, Jerome.
Chelsea
Last 5 Away games : P5 - W2-D1-L2 - F10-A5
Ancelotti's men visit St Andrews on Saturday knowing a win can open up a 7 point lead at the top of the table even before the Blue's nearest rivals kick off. This would send a nice message but going to Birmingham is NO walkover as it once was.
Chelsea must beat a side that is unbeaten in 9 and hasn't lost at home since Sept as documented above. However, this Chelsea side is top of the league and has the most away points in the Premiership with 16 out of 27. Although it's worth mentioning all 3 of Chelsea's league defeats have come on the road and 2 of those in the last 5! Could we see number 4 on Saturday?
Well! One key factor is the who scores first, Birmingham have 7 wins from 7 when they score first and Chelsea 10 from 12 times that they get in front first. On the other side of the coin, Chelsea are the leagues BEST when they go behind, in the 6 times this has happened they managed to still win 3 games only losing once. B'ham in the 9 games they have conceded first went on to lose 6 of them! The first goal looks very important especially for Birmingham.
Chelsea has scored in EVERY Premiership game this year which is encouraging and early reports suggest that 8 goal man Anelka returns to the side to re-establish the lethal partnership with Drogba (18 goals this year). With a few niggles in the back line of Birmingham I fully expect Drogba and Anelka to get a few chances between them on Saturday.
Regarding other team news is that Carlo has the same squad avaiable PLUS Anelka for Saturday which means No Boswinga and Essien. I expect a few changes on Sat, with Mikel coming in and maybe Kalou dropping out if Anelka makes it. Predicted Lineup: Cech, Ivanovic, Carvalho, Terry, A Cole; Mikel, Malouda, Lampard, J Cole; Anelka, Drogba.
Chelsea has looked a little sluggish lately and are giving away silly goals but they have been VERY unlucky to, a pen v West Ham, two freak goals at home to Everton and a very fortunate 4 deflection shot which fell to a striker against Portsmouth.
The Betting Angle
With the Blues knowing 1 goal may win this and the physiological angle of getting 7 points clear should inspire this team.
I expect Chelsea to JUST nick it.
The Pick :
Birmingham 0-1 Chelsea
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Chelsea @ 1.54 - Pinnacle Sports although this is a shocking price.I'd prefer to take Chelsea to win by 1 goal @ 3.50 Bet365
or 0-2 goals @ 3.25 Bet365
