Birmingham v Sunderland

Birmingham City vs Sunderland Preview

Birmingham City claimed a vital three points in last weekend's 1-0 home win against Blackburn Rovers which became The Blues' second win in three games in the Championship, while Sunderland were handed a seemingly unlikely 1-0 defeat away from home at Championship strugglers, Huddersfield Town, and this upcoming clash against Birmingham City has several sub-plots within this fixture.

Birmingham's 1-0 win against Blackburn Rovers saw Blues manager Tony Mowbray up against one of his former clubs and handed his side a valuable lifeline in their bid to avoid being sucked down further towards the relegation zone, and this Saturday the west midlands club face a Sunderland outfit who had sacked Mowbray earlier in the season.

The plot further thickens as former Birmingham player and brother of Jude Bellingham, Jobe, opted to leave Blues to join Sunderland at the end of last season while former Sunderland midfielder, Alex Pritchard, has recently joined Birmingham City!

After having had to endure the previously disastrous tenure of former manager, Wayne Rooney, which yielded just two wins from 15 matches, Birmingham City now find themselves in survival mode under Mowbray and the new manager has already overseen recent vital victories against Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers respectively.

Sunderland's 1-0 defeat away from home at lowly Huddersfield Town not only dented the Black Cats' ambitions of lifting themselves up into the play-off pack but also resulted in the visitors dropping down to 10th place in the Championship table.

Recent important wins against Stoke City and Plymouth Argyle have been achieved on home soil at their Stadium of Light but these have been offset by losses at the hands of Ipswich Town, Hull City and Huddersfield Town respectively, which throws their ability to claim all three points at St Andrews into some uncertainty.

Sunderland still only find themselves a point outside of the top six places in the Championship though ahead of this upcoming trip to the west midlands but the majority of their success this season has been achieved on home soil at their Stadium of Light where they have collected 10 of their total of 14 wins to date this term.

However, this of course means the Black Cats have managed to capture just four wins on the road all season in the English second tier and to make matters worse, Michael Beale's side have been restricted to just one win from their last 11 outings on the road while also being handed six defeats in the process which is becoming a serious concern for the north-east club.

Birmingham City v Sunderland Verdict

Previous history between these two clubs along with current form suggests this clash will be a tightly contested affair with both teams looking set to score but ultimately honours could be shared here. Therefore, our main bet will be BTTS Yes @ 1.80

Other side bets worth considering:

Draw @ 3.40

Correct Score: 1-1 @ 6.50