Birmingham City V Fulham

Kick-off: Saturday 21st November – 15:00 GMT

Venue: St. Andrews

Birmingham City

League Position: 15th

Recent Form: LLWDD

Birmingham are having your typical promotion side season – Defeats all over the shop, decent form in short patches and a rare yet joyous result over one of the big sides. They’ve completed all three before Christmas has even taken it’s toll but, with Birmingham undefeated in their last three league outings, will the players do themselves and the manager a favour by extending their impressive run on Saturday against a Fulham side who haven’t been defeated in five games?

In football, that old cliché ‘You’re only as good as your last result’ crops up a lot. Well, if that’s the case then Birmingham should spend the entire game with Fulham in their own half, defend valiantly and scabbing a goal or two when they do make some rare strides forward into the opposing half. This basically sums up how Birmingham not only approached the game with Liverpool a fortnight ago but also how they played. It wasn’t glamours, far from it, but it was very effective. However, it’s a not a tactic you can use against the so called ‘lesser’ sides, and Alex McLeish will have already been plotting his next move on how to take on a ‘rigid’ Fulham team.

Alex McLeish has said that he believes a glorious partnership is forming at the club, and no it’s not between himself and the old romantic himself, Lee Boywer. Chuco Benitez & Cameron Jerome have been a right nuisance pairing this season, mainly because of the strength and pace they posses, and both found themselves on the score sheet at Anfield, although, it was Jerome who claimed all the headlines with a stunning 30 yard thumping effort. However, the pair may look good together but they’ve been far from prolific this season, with those goals at Anfield being their first of the season, league wise.  

Alex McLeish may feel a rosy partnership up front is forming but we feel Birmingham’s strongest asset is their defending. Whenever they aren’t on the ball, which is an awful lot in most games, McLeish deploys a very defensive mindset into his team, placing almost every man behind the ball. They close you down at every given opportunity, they aren’t scared to stick their bodies on the line when called upon, and their valiant defensive displays has earned them a very respectable defensive record thus far, with Birmingham conceding just 14 goals this season. That’s an average of 1.16, just over a goal-a-game, but for a newly promoted team that’s pretty good going.

However, at home, Birmingham have been even more impressive in defence, conceding just the a measly tally of four goals. Christmas maybe just around the corner but Birmingham’s defence has taken on the role of Scrooge quite gleefully. On the same token, though, Birmingham have only managed to score ten times, with just four actually coming at St. Andrews. That’s food for thought for those Christmas hating Scrooge’s.

Fulham

League Position: 11th

Recent Form: DWDWD

All the talk down near the Cottage hasn’t been about Fulham’s good start to the season because that hasn’t existed, nor about their chuffing good run which has seen them go five games without defeat while in league action. Nope, it’s been about one man and only man only, Roy Hodgeson. With speculation rife, both manager and board have been quick to dash the ‘wild rumours’ that Hodgeson could be on his way out in a bid to avoid any such distraction back in the Fulham camp. This ongoing saga if you like doesn’t appear to have altered the Fulham ranks as they’ve been in a battling mood of late, with this five match unbeaten run consisting of a draw away at Man City & a glorious 3-1 victory over last seasons runners-up, Liverpool.

After finishing last season in seventh position, a club high in the Premiership, the pressure was always going to be on them to emulate that success or to at least come close to a similar position come May. However, for the most part of the early season, Fulham have squirmed under the pressure and their start to the season was far from the one that seen them finish last season with four wins in seven. Nevertheless, Fulham have slowly but surely risen to the challenge and their unbeaten run has put them firmly back into top ten contention.

For now, Fulham sit just below the top ten in eleventh position but a win away in Birmingham would almost certainly see them invade the upper tier of the table. In fact, a draw would probably be enough to complete the same objective but that won’t impress a sought after Roy Hodgeson. Fulham maybe on a five match unbeaten run, I’m getting a headache just repeating that, but three of those five matches were draws, and all were on the road. West Ham (2-2), Man City (2-2) & Wigan Athletic (1-1), are all venues where Fulham frustrated their opposition but failed to go that step further.

Fulham have generally been a terribly homesick side and, despite their early away success at Portsmouth on the opening day of the season against a team that went on to lose seven on the spin, Fulham have shown signs of the same away symptoms this season. Fulham’s away record this season currently stands at 1-3-2, but one shining positive has been their ability to score goals on the road this term, with Fulham bracing the opposing home net on nine occasions thus far.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Birmingham City W: 3 Fulham W: 2 Draws: 5

The writing does appear to already be on the wall with this fixture as not much has separated the two sides in recent encounters. The last league meeting between the two, back in the 2007/2008 season, finished all square in a 1-1 draw, while three of the previous five clashes at St. Andrews have all produced draws.

Birmingham did enjoy success over Fulham, at St. Andrews, back in the 2005/2006 Premiership campaign when they edged out the Cottagers to win 1-0. That was after Fulham beat Birmingham on their own patch a year before.

Goals don’t look all that likely, with the previous two league meetings producing just three goals.

Match Verdict:- Draw – 3.00 SkyBet

We don’t think you could go too far wrong with a small wager on the draw. Birmingham are a very solid outfit, while Fulham will probably set out to do exactly what Birmingham did in their last outing, defend in numbers when on the back foot and then aim to strike on the counter. Birmingham drew in their last home appearance, a 0-0 draw with Man City, while Fulham have drawn three away games on the spin. The law of averages would indicate that this drawing habit will give but we aren’t so sure about that and, with neither side standing out in the form book, the draw gets the nod.

Match Odds:

Birmingham City – 2.50 PaddyPower

Draw –  3.00 SkyBet

Fulham – 3.25 Bet365

SoccerBetting Value Tip: 0-0 Correct Score – 9.50 VCbet

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Full-Time: Birmingham City 1-0 Fulham

Goalscorer(s): Lee Bowyer (Birmingham City)