Sunderland V Birmingham City
Football : England : Premier League
Saturday 20th March 2010 – Kickoff 3pm

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Neither of these sides are going to be relegated, and they are a long way off challenging for a place in Europe.

Sunderland

The Black Cats were so close last week. Steve Bruce’s side led a tight game with Manchester City until minutes from the final whistle before an absolute peach of a strike from Adam Johnson finally broke their resolve deep into stoppage time. The poor keeper had no chance, and really it was the only way he was going to get beaten on a night when he had saved everything that came at him.

Sunderland must now recover from the points lost, and try and finally make home advantage count. This is now their 4th home game on the trot, and while they have managed to stay unbeaten, the fans deserve to see their side do more in their own backyard. They have only managed to win 1 of their last 8 games at the Stadium of Light, a 4-0 thumping of Bolton.

How they react to the disappointing result against Manchester City is anyone’s guess, but I feel the home advantage will get cancelled out by Birmingham’s fighting resolve.

Birmingham City

The surprise package of this years league continue to do so. Last week, the Brummies were all but finished at 2-0 down but they roared back to 2-2 and salvaged a point against Everton. Alex McLeish’s side have now gone 3 games unbeaten and will see this as a good chance to extend this new run.

Birmingham have worked hard for every point they’ve earned this season. They’re a side that never puts in a half hearted slack performance and it’s netted them points against the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. McLeish has instilled a resilience and self-belief in this squad that is a major asset in every game, no matter how strong the opposition might be.

Birmingham’s away form has been their weakness in an otherwise solid season. They took steps to improve this by winning at Portsmouth 2-1 and I think they can build on that momentum and get a point here.

The Betting Verdict :

Sunderland might have won the previous fixture, but it’s tough beating this Birmingham side twice.

The Black Cats have shown they are incapable of making the home advantage count, drawing 5 of their last 6 games here at the Stadium of Light.

Birmingham will fight right till the end and I can’t see the Brummies leaving empty handed.

The Statistics :

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take the Full-time draw at 3.50 (Pinnacle) – Main Bet

Take Half-Time Draw at 2.10 (Bet365) – Main Bet