English Other
2010-10-26 - Birmingham City vs Brentford
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Carling Cup
Saturday 23 October 2010 - Kickoff 7:45pm
Birmingham City
Birmingham City made their ambitions in the Carling Cup clear when disposing of lower league opposition at St Andrews in previous rounds and they now have a chance to move in the Quarter Finals here. Alex McCleish would have been a little worried when his team started falling down the Premier League but a win on Saturday will have given his side confidence and they will see this as a chance to win a competition that the 'big clubs' usually show little interest in.
The Blues won their first game since beating the MK Dons here in the last round of the Carling Cup against Blackpool here on Saturday. They recently lost their first game at home in over a year when Everton won 0-2 here, but they will look to revitalise their record here following the win over Blackpool.
It is clear that some changes will be made especially with the Aston Villa Derby in mind on Sunday. Akwasi Asante has been included in the squad after the 17 year old striker scored 5 goals in a youth game last week. Craig Gardener is available once again after suspension but both Stuart Parnaby and Martin Jiranek are out.
Brentford
Brentford were expecting big things this season after the positive job Andy Scott has done at the club over the last couple of seasons but a tough start to the new campaign has them down in 19th position in League One. However, the Bees have already beaten Premier League opposition in the Carling Cup this season when knocking out Everton at home on a penalty shoot out in the last round.
Andy Scott's side have won back to back League games to move out of the relegation zone and now have just 1 defeat in their last 5 games. The win at Tranmere Rovers was the first time they had scored an away goal for 5 games.
Ben Hamer is cup tied here so Richard Lee will be given the opportunity in goal after his heroics in the last round against Everton. Charlie McDonald is a doubt after coming off at the weekend as he is suffering from an illness.
Head to Head
These 2 sides have not met in recent history.
Prediction
It is clear that Birmingham City do want to have a good Cup run here and I am sure Alex McCleish will see the Carling Cup as a real opportunity to get a chance to manage a team at Wembley. I would imagine his interest in the competition picked up even more so when considering Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Liverpool are already out.
Brentford really held on against Everton in the last round thanks to a strong goalkeeping display from Richard Lee, but this is an altogether tougher test. They have been playing well in recent games, but their lack of goals away from home would worry me.
I have to go for the home win here as the most likely result. Birmingham will make changes but will still have some good players in the side and I expect them to be too strong. I'll take the Blues to cover the Asian Handicap here.
The Pick :
Birmingham City 2-0 Brentford
