Eng. Championship
2008-08-09 - Birmingham City vs Sheffield United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
At last football is coming back and pre-season is completed. This match is the first live game of the season and is an absolute cracker between 2 teams who will both be expecting to make a challenge for automatic promotion spots come May.Birmingham City
The Blues will be disappointed that they did not manage to extend their stay in the top flight beyond 1 season and I feel a lot of the off field issues surrounding the takeover affected their performances and perhaps ultimately cost them a place in the Premier League for this season. However, they are rightly one of the favourites to win this division as they have held on to the majority of their side and seem to have the most experience within their squad to achieve their goals.
Birmingham had a solid record at St Andrews' last season, ending the season with a 6-8-5 record but they will be looking to convert a higher percentage of matches into wins. They ended the season last year with an 8 match unbeaten run at home, but only 3 of those games ended as wins.
Birmingham have added the steel of Lee Carsley in central midfield, a player who is still capable of doing a good job at a higher level, and have also brought in Marcus Bent and Kevin Phillips to provide goals. Ex-Arsenal youngster, Quincy Owusu-Abeyie, has just signed on loan and Birmingham look more than capable of performing in this division.
Sheffield United
The bad start provided by Bryan Robson left Sheffield United with little to no chance of gaining promotion last season, but the arrival of new manager Kevin Blackwell left the fans with real hopes for this season. United finished their campaign with 8 wins from their last 11 league games which left them just short of making the playoffs.
Sheffield United had a respectable 7-7-9 away record at the end of the season but they may need to improve on that just slightly if they wish to achieve all of their goals. United will also look to this game as laying down a bench mark for the rest of their season by making a real statement of intent.
Sheffield United have a nice blend of youth and experience within their team and look for inspiration from players like Gary Speed, Chris Morgan and Ugo Ehiogu. Kevin Blackwell does have an idea of how his team will line up on Saturday but has also revealed that 2/3 places are still up for grabs.
Head to Head
Birmingham and Sheffield United have not met in league competition for 7 seasons but Birmingham have won their last 2 at home against United.
Prediction
This is a tough start to a new division for Birmingham as they face a side that could really push for promotion also come the end of season. I think Birmingham have the best squad of players in the Championship, but this game is going to be tough.
Sheffield United have really bought into the Kevin Blackwell method of training and I think they will be even stronger after a pre-season under his control. Therefore I think a little bit of a surprise may occur in this game and I feel Sheffield United will get something.
I'll go with a draw here but the safer option is Sheffield United on the Asian Handicap.
The Pick :
Birmingham City 1-1 Sheffield United
BEST BETTING TIP :
Draw
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Sheffield United +0.5 Asian Handicap
