Eng. Championship
2013-03-16 - Middlesbrough vs Birmingham City
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – Championship
Saturday 16th March 2013 – Kickoff: 1500hrs
MIDDLESBROUGH
Having dropped out of the top six, Middlesbrough will be very keen indeed to return to winning ways at the Riverside Stadium when they host a disappointing Birmingham City on Saturday afternoon.
Middlesbrough have had a tough time of it recently with defeats against Millwall, Huddersfield Town and Bristol City which has cost them ground on the leading teams and ultimately have dropped out of the top six as a result, but the latter two results were both away from home.
Until recently, Middlesbrough had won seven from nine home matches with just one loss and one draw until recently where the wheels appeared to have come off with home losses to Watford 1-2, Barnsley 2-3 and the aforementioned Millwall 1-2, but they did win against poor travellers Leeds United 1-0 and an unexpected 2-1 win over Championship league leaders Cardiff City 2-1 in their last home match.
Boro’s home record now stands at 12-1-5 35/22 which is still impressive and only Cardiff have won more home matches than them so far this season. It’s also worth noting that Middlesbrough have scored in their last 19 home matches consecutively which may stand them in good stead against visitors Birmingham City.
BIRMINGHAM CITY
Inconsistent Birmingham City travel north to Teeside on Saturday in search of recording back-to-back league wins for only the second time this season on the back of their 3-1 home win over Derby County last weekend.
Overall, Birmingham City have been very disappointing this season as they remain in the lower half of the Championship despite pre-season hopes of attaining another play-off place. With three quarters of the season now gone, manager Lee Clark has made very little impact in my opinion with the most obvious issue being their decline in their home form.
However, Birmingham have lost just once in their last five matches and they’ll be hoping to get something from the Riverside to continue their ‘mini-revival’ but this may only serve to avoid being sucked into a relegation battle rather than challenging for a top six spot which is far out of reach and now, sadly, totally unrealistic.
Recent wins against Peterborough and Derby will give them hope here, but historically, Birmingham never travel well and their continued inconsistencies away from home are once again reflected in their away record of 5-6-7 25/30 and their last road trip ended in an embarrassing 2-5 loss at Hull City against former manager Steve Bruce (come back Brucie all is forgiven!)
THE BETTING VERDICT:
It’s true that Middlesbrough have wobbled at home recently, and I hate going against my team Birmingham, but I have to be realistic and go for Boro to set the record straight at home to once again make a challenge for a play-off place. Take Boro and give the quarter ball in what I reckon to be a 2-1 win for the hosts.
The Pick :
Middlesbrough 2 Birmingham City 1
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
