Birmingham City

vs

Stoke

Preview

Birmingham

• Birmingham have won seven, drawn five and lost only one of their 13 Championship home matches (W7, D5, L1).
• Davies’ side have avoided defeat in their last 13 home games (W7, D5, L1) and conceded an average of just 1.00 goals per game.
• Birmingham have failed to win their last two home games against Stoke and may have to do so again if they are to maintain their unbeaten run at this venue.

Stoke

• Stoke have won six, drawn two and lost six of their 14 Championship road games (W6, D2, L6).
• Robins has given Stoke a clear identity since his appointment in January, instilling a pragmatic, structured system that has made them disciplined defensively with a real knack for the counter-attack.

Head-to-Head

• Birmingham City are a very different beast to the team that Stoke beat 1-0 at home just four months ago and Chris Davies’ high-tempo, possession-based approach will come head-to-head with the pragmatic system preferred by Mark Robins when these two face off on Saturday.
• Birmingham have failed to win their last two home games against Stoke.

Key Players

• Stoke’s Sorba Thomas is the top scorer on the field with nine goals from 27 appearances in the Championship.
• Jay Stansfield has been Birmingham’s most reliable source with eight from 25.

Betting Insights

• The Blues are the favorites at 1.8 in the match result market with Stoke the long shots at 4.55.
• Both teams have good defensive records and the Under 2.5 goals market at 1.7 looks very favorable to the game having a low-scoring nature.

Prediction

• This could be a good contest between two teams with contrasting styles, Birmingham will get on the ball and try to press Stoke, who will sit back and try to sting the home side on the counter.
• So we could be in for a real chess match here, where the players who can execute their plans best may prevail.
• Expect a tight game with Under 2.5 goals likely.