English FA CUP
2011-01-29 - Birmingham City vs Coventry City
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English FA Cup 4th Round
Saturday 29 January 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Birmingham City
I wonder if the elation of the supporters from the Wednesday night Carling Cup win over West Ham has died down at all in the last couple of days? The extra time win means Birmingham have a lovely trip to Wembley to play Arsenal in the Carling Cup Final at the end of next month. Now Alex McCleish has to focus his players minds on the job at hand with a busy FA Cup weekend followed by 2 quick Premier League matches.
The Birmingham side are struggling in the Premier League this season and sit in 17th place, 1 point and place better off than Wigan in the relegation zone. The priority will remain to stay in the League, even at the expense of Cup competitions. Birmingham have a 3-6-2 home record, scoring 10 goals and conceding 11, in the League this season. They are 4-1-0 in the Cup games at St Andrews, and goals have been less of a problem, scoring 11 in those games.
Victory over West Ham was also their first in their last 4 games since the 3rd Round win at Millwall earlier this month. It was also their first home win since December 1st in the Carling Cup against Aston Villa, a run of 5 games.
Roger Johnson and Craig Gardener are both doubts after their efforts during the week. Alex McCleish may also choose to refresh other members of his side with the League games in midweek coming up. David Bentley is in the squad after being cup-tied on Wednesday, while Curtis Davies signed too late to be eligible for this game.
Coventry City
Aidy Boothroyd has been doing a good job at the Ricoh Arena since taking over, although his Coventry side have hit something of a wall in recent games. The ultimate goal is to return to the side to the Premier League after a 10 year absence, although that looks a little beyond them this season.
The Sky Blues are 14th in the Championship this season and find themselves 9 points behind Leeds United in the final Play Off position. They have a respectable 4-3-7 away record this season, scoring 14 goals and conceding 19.
The run of bad form I mentioned initially is that Coventry have won just 1 of their last 9 games in all competitions, that being a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace in the 3rd Round earlier this month. The team have lost 5 of their last 6 League games, including a 2-1 defeat at Queens Park Rangers last weekend when being 0-1 up. Coventry have lost their last 3 away games and have conceded 2 goals in each of those games.
Ben Turner, a lifelong Birmingham fan, will be hoping to return to the squad after injury. Lee Carsley is unavailable to face his old team as he has been ruled out through injury.
Head to Head
These teams last met in the 2008/09 season in the Championship. The season ended positively for Birmingham with promotion to the Premier League at the end of the season, but Coventry had the bragging rights in this West Midlands rivalry with two 1-0 wins.
Birmingham had won their previous 2 home games against the Sky Blues over the last 10 seasons.
Prediction
This is a tough game to read as we are not sure what kind of state the Birmingham players are in, either mentally or physically, after the euphoria of Wednesday nights win over West Ham. It is also unclear whether Alex McCleish will be resting players for the game against Manchester City on Wednesday next week as the Premier League and survival is his priority from here on in.
Coventry City did play a strong side in the 3rd Round of this competition and a chance for local bragging rights will not be missed by the fans. Aidy Boothroyd is likely to deploy a strong team here in the hope of causing an upset.
This game does pose a real chance of producing a shock because of the 120 minutes played by the home team in midweek. With a lack of goals, and possibly resting some players, I have to have a small interest on Coventry to avoid defeat.
The Asian Handicap is set that a 1 goal home win will at least return half of our stake.
The Pick :
Birmingham City 1-2 Coventry City
BEST BETTING TIP :
I'll back Coventry City + 0.75 Asian HandicapFollow me on Twitter @DavindaAulak- the direct link is below
