Birmingham v Newcastle

Birmingham City vs Newcastle United Preview

In-form League One leaders, Birmingham City, will be keen to test where their progress so far this season has taken them on Saturday evening when they play host to Premier League club Newcastle United at St Andrews in this 4th round FA Cup tie as the west midlands hosts bring an impressive 18-match unbeaten sequence into this cup-tie, while Newcastle United have slipped to two defeats in their last four games overall.

Birmingham City possess a four-point cushion over second placed Wycombe Wanderers and eight points ahead of Wrexham in the English third tier with The Blues' progress this season being boosted by 18 games without a defeat - 15 of which have resulted in victories for Chris Davies's side.

The west midlands hosts are desperate to bounce back up into the Championship at the first time of asking following last season's disastrous relegation, but while the league is Birmingham City's bread and butter, this upcoming cup-tie gives Blues something of a ‘free-hit' against one of the big boys and an upset may just be on the cards here.

Nevertheless, Birmingham face their toughest opponent yet this season but the hosts have progressed through to the 4th round of this competition thanks to wins against Sutton United, Blackpool and Lincoln City so far.

Newcastle United bounced back from last weekend's 2-1 loss at home to Fulham during this week when they registered a solid 2-0 home win against Arsenal in the semi-final of the EFL Cup, beating The Gunners 4-0 on aggregate, and The Magpies will be hoping they can secure another cup win in the west midlands on Saturday evening.

The bigger picture paints a rather ominous outlook for their League One hosts as well, as Newcastle United have won 11 out of their last 13 matches in all competitions which includes collecting wins on the road at Ipswich Town, Manchester United, Tottenham, Arsenal and Southampton respectively.

Goals also look set to feature in this upcoming FA Cup tie at St Andrews as seven out of Newcastle United's last 10 games across all competitions have also resulted in Over 2.5 goals being scored and as it is not unreasonable to suggest Birmingham City can score on Saturday, then The Magpies are more than capable of scoring twice.

The north-east visitors disposed of League Two outfit Bromley 3-1 at home in the previous round of this competition.

Birmingham City v Newcastle United Verdict

Birmingham City have scored in 12 of their previous 13 home games at St Andrews in all competitions, while Newcastle United have won their last five away games on the trot, scoring twice or more in each of these victories as well.

Therefore, our main bet will be Over 2.5 goals @ 1.53

Other side bets worth considering:

Newcastle Utd win & Over 2 goals @ 1.90 (Bet Builder) Correct Score: Newcastle Utd 2-1 @ 8.50