Eng. Championship
2012-05-09 - Birmingham City vs Blackpool
A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter
Football – England – Championship
Play-Off Semi Final 2nd Leg
Wednesday 9th May 2012 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
( Blackpool lead 1-0 after the first leg )
Birmingham City play host to Blackpool in the deciding leg of their play-off semi final with the home side looking to press home their advantage at their St Andrews ground which has become a fortress during the regular season.
Bimingham City
Birmingham were in truth a little lacklustre in the first leg up at Bloomfield Road, and the 4-5-1 set-up deployed by manager Chris Hughton may have been a little too defensive and perhaps given Blackpool a little too much respect? As it panned out, Blues were restricted to a handful of chances despite Marlon King hitting the post as he plugged away on his own up front all evening.
Wednesday night though must see Birmingham firing on all cylinders if they are to overturn this one-goal deficit, and I fancy we’ll see either Redmond or Zigic partner King up front in a 4-4-2 formation with wingers Burke and Elliott encouraged to go forward and join them in attack.
Birmingham’s defeat at Blackpool was their first in ten matches, while their home form has been pivotal in them attaining this play-off position with a record of 13-9-1 37/14 and have been undefeated in their last six matches following a surprise 1-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest.
We’ll see a very different Birmingham City tonight with a passionate St Andrews crowd urging them on, and the first goal will probably determine the eventual outcome here. Blues simply must attack and score two goals to decide this in normal time, and I doubt either side really wants to go into extra-time, and definitely not into the dreaded penalty shoot-out.
Blackpool
Blackpool did what they had to do at Bloomfield Road in the first leg but I daresay they would have loved to have had a two-goal cushion to take with them to the midlands on Wednesday night given their opponents’ strong home record all season.
It is not in the nature of Ian Holloway’s side to sit back and keep it tight, and with a Birmingham side forging forward, I reckon the Seasiders will also create plenty of chances of their own with attacking players such as striker Phillips, Taylor-Fletcher, Matty Phillips and Thomas Ince who can switch to either flank if necessary.
Here’s an interesting statistic for you also; out of Blackpool’s 23 away matches during the season, 17 of them ended up in over 2.5 goals, and it’s well known that they are susceptible to conceding on the road having kept just five clean sheets on their travels.
The Betting Verdict :
This second leg is set to really open up with Birmingham having to go for it from the off, while Blackpool don’t know the meaning of defend and I’m therefore confident we’ll see a few goals in this tie; a 2-1 scoreline to Birmingham and the match to go into extra-time.
The Pick :
Birmingham City 2-1 Blackpool
BEST BETTING TIP :
Main Pick :Take Over 2.5 goals @ 1.91
