BARNSLEY v BIRMINGHAM CITY
Football – England – Championship
Tuesday 21st February 2012 – Kickoff: 19:45hrs

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Oakwell is venue as Barnsley take on the in-form team in the Championship, Birmingham City who have reduced the deficit on second placed Southampton to just two points now.

This game is rescheduled after being postponed on 11th Februrary.

Barnsley (14th)
HOME : 8-2-6 28/24

Barnsley are currently situated in a safe 15th position and seem to be drifting along quite happily with no promotion or relegation stress, picking up the odd win here and there to remain out of trouble.

This is evident in using Barnsley's last six matches as a snapshot; wins against Leeds United, Leicester City and Derby County, with losses against Doncaster Rovers, Millwall and Watford.

Barnsley’s home record stands at 8-2-6 28/24, and it’s interesting to note that they’ve struggled against the top teams ie Southampton, Middlesbrough and Blackpool who have all inflicted defeats on The Tykes so far this season.

Striker Craig Davies (9 goals, 4 assists) and midfielder Andy Gray (7 goals, 4 assists) are the main threats, but they haven’t seemed the same team since the departure of Ricardo Vaz Te who left for West Ham.

Birmingham City (6th)
AWAY : 4-3-7 24/21

Birmingham City snatched a last minute winner at St Andrews on Tuesday night against Portsmouth which lifted them into third place above Cardiff City on goal difference.

That recent win has stretched their unbeaten run now to nine games in the Championship and have emerged as one of the strong favourites for automatic promotion if they can maintain this run; a big ‘if’ but we’ve seen in previous seasons where momentum has played a big part in promotion pushes from the Championship – Swansea City, Blackpool and Hull City cases in point.

Birmingham’s away record is also improving as time goes on and now stands at 4-3-7 24/21 which still doesn’t sound that impressive but keep in mind that they are now unbeaten on the road in their last three matches, hitting Millwall for six, Leeds United for four and a draw at high-scoring Peterborough United.

Birmingham now possess some key attacking players such as Marlon King, Nikola Zigic and their main provider Chris Burke (7 goals, 10 assists), along with Nathan Redmond, Jordan Mutch and defender Curtis Davies from set-pieces.

Updated Notes

Since this was postponed 10 days ago on February 11th, Barnsley lost 0-2 at Burnley and then beat cash-strapped Portsmouth 2-0 last week, while Birmingham City drew 0-0 with Hull City last midweek and then earned a creditable 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in the FA Cup.

The Betting Verdict :

As I see it, the team with the greatest desire will win this match, which of course is Birmingham.

Despite Marlon King and Zigic being doubtful for the trip to Barnsley, my original pick of Birmingham still stands but you never quite know with the Championship so I’ll take the Blues with the round ball (AH+0) for safety.

HANDICAP BETTING :

Main Pick :
Take Birmingham City AH+0 @ 1.57 at Pinnacle