Birmingham City V Manchester United

Saturday, 9^th January – 17:30 GMT (ESPN)

Birmingham City

League Position: 8th

Recent Form: WWDDW

The Birmingham express just keeps on rolling, even if it is running a tad slower in the FA Cup, but will the arrival of Man Utd knock the high-flying blues straight off the track? Past results would certainly suggest so as Birmingham have never beaten Manchester United in the league at St. Andrews, nor have they beaten them at all in actual fact. However, it is Alex McLeish’s men who head into this fixture with all the momentum and that could be in crucial as Birmingham aim to record their first every victory over The Red Devils in the Premiership.

Even a tough set of Christmas fixtures couldn’t derail Birmingham, with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn and a 0-0 draw with Chelsea, either side of Christmas, extending their unbeaten run in the league to eleven games. Their best run for over 102 years. This outstanding streak of theirs consists of seven wins and four draws, with even the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool & Man City all failing to overhaul Birmingham this season. However, Man Utd are one of a select few that have already claimed the scalp of Brummie this season and they’ll be aiming to complete a league double over Birmingham.

Birmingham’s fantastic run of form has been built upon the basis of a solid defensive. Something which we have highlighted in just about every preview, but, unless it goes wayward, we will carry on praising it as it has been a sensational defence, of which Joe Hart has to take a lot of the credit. Alex McLeish’s side have conceded just 18 goals this season, level with the likes of Man Utd, Aston Villa; slightly worse than Chelsea who have shipped just 17; but better than both Arsenal & Liverpool; which just puts it into comparison how strong a defence it’s been. However, it’s been especially strong at St. Andrews, with Birmingham boasting the leanest home defence in the land, conceding just 5 goals at home all season.

We’ve talked a lot about this bullish defence for weeks but it’s vitally important to have a strong backbone in games such as these. Joe Hart, who has been arguably the league’s best goalkeeper up till now, has kept two consecutive clean sheets in goal, eight in all, and hasn’t conceded a goal in a little over 185 minutes of play. Then again, Birmingham haven’t managed to score two or more in either of their previous three outings in the league, so although they are incredibly strong at the back they are very weak in attack, although we prefer to view it as ‘clinical’.

“Clinical, you say?” Well, all nine of their victories this season have all been by a one goal margin, of which six have been to nil, six have been 1-0’s. This is proof that Birmingham don’t play like Real Madrid but, however, are far more consistent and reliable than the Spanish giants. This outstanding unbeaten run of theirs needs to be respected and we won’t fall foul to arrogance. We quite fancy Birmingham to stretch their unbeaten run and, possibly, record their first win over a United side that are clearly rocking.

Manchester United

League Position: 2nd

Recent Form: LWLWW

The mighty Red Devils haven’t been at their sublime best in recent weeks but will need to pull a huge performance out of the bag if they any real ambitions of walking away from St. Andrews with all thee points as their Birmingham opponents boast far better form than they do. United are, though, still in the race for the title and could find themselves top of the table with a victory on Saturday, although they would still need Hull City to do them a favour elsewhere, but there are clear incentives for United heading into an extremely tough new year fixture. 

United have been far from untouchable this season but they’ve been even more vulnerable on the road, losing twice as many away fixtures as Birmingham have lost at home. Four times Ferguson’s Manchester United have come a cropper away from Old Trafford this season, which is a million miles away from the form they displayed in last seasons league winning campaign. Nonetheless, Sir Alex’s United remain one of the best in the land, and although they don’t boast a great wealth of form at present, they do have a handful of players with serious match winning abilities and they will be a threat no matter how bad their form is.

Sir Alex will, though, need to lift the spirit of the camp after a morale crushing defeat at the weekend in which Man Utd, the 11 times winners of the competition, were sent packing at the third round stage by League 1 outfit, Leeds United, in a game where the Red Devils were tamed by Simon Grayson’s Leeds. 

I’m a Liverpool fan through and through, so I’m used to terrible performances from my side, but even I felt sorry for the loyal set of United fans in the terraces at Old Trafford as their side were dreadful. Their passes were going wayward, their midfield was all over the shot, the defence was a shambles, while even their best player this season, Wayne Rooney, was missing sitters even my Grandma would struggle to miss. It really was a bad day at the office, but in a huge encounter, and it’s hard to comprehend not only how will that affect the morale of the camp but if United can recover in time to face an inform Birmingham City.

If United are to end Birmingham’s valiant unbeaten run then you’d expect Wayne Rooney to be at the forefront of this assault. However, even his best efforts haven’t provided United with a decent away record (6-0-4), and the Reds’ have been a vulnerable away outfit all season. They do, though have this unique ability to throw up a stunning performance from out of the blue and it wouldn’t be at all surprising if they plucked one up again this Saturday.

Head-to-Head (Last 8):

Birmingham City W: 0 Manchester United W: 6 Draws: 2

• Birmingham have never beaten Man Utd in a Premiership fixture

• In eight meetings, the best Birmingham could muster was two draws, with both of them coming at St. Andrews.

• In eight encounters with United, both home and away, Birmingham have failed to find the goal in seven of those, and haven’t scored against United in their previous four attempts.

• Man Utd have won the last four contests between the two, all to NIL.

• The last three meetings have gone the way of Man Utd, all by a 1-0 score line.

Match Verdict: Draw – 3.80 Bet365

We have played safe with a punt on the draw. These two are so evenly matched in that Birmingham are the in form side of the two but are up against the quality of Man Utd. A team who, were they on top of their form, would probably win this fixture with few problems. However, United’s form issues makes them a precarious bet and Birmingham did hold Chelsea to a 0-0 draw not so long ago, although they really should have won that encounter were it not for some bad referring decisions. Birmingham will still need to work their socks off in order to get a result but they’ve built up a solid defensive foundation and United will struggle to break them down after a torrid weekend. Birmingham to become yet another side to frustrate Sir Alex Ferguson!

Match Odds:

Birmingham City – 6.80 Expekt.com

Draw – 3.80 Bet365

Manchester United – 1.62 PaddyPower