Wolverhampton Wanderers V Birmingham City

Kick-off: Sunday 29th November – 12:00 GMT

Venue: Molineux

Wolverhampton Wanderers

League Position: 19th

Recent Form: DDDLL

Wolves may have entered the Premiership as the winners of The Championship, but that has counted for nothing this season as they currently find themselves languishing in 19^th position, six positions and five points off the side that finished second behind them last season, Birmingham City. What’s more, Wolves failed to beat the Blues’ when they paid Wolves a visit at Molneux last season, that was, of course, in The Championship, but will both their current positions and the results of last year play some part, mentally, in how Wolves approach this fixture.

Wolves’ lowly position hasn’t surprise us in the slightest as, although their attacking ways seen them storm through most games in The Championship, their defensive still left a lot to be desired and has certainly been found wanting in this years Premiership. Thus far, Wolves have conceded 26 goals in just 13 fixtures, averaging nearly two goals against this season. A small shining light will be that 10 of the 26 have come at Molineux but still, that’s an awful tally, joint second worst in the league in fact, and it will be an area which Mick McCarthy will desperately need to reinforce during the January transfer market else Wolves could face an early exit from the league at this rate.

Scoring has been a real cause for concern, especially when playing at home. Of the twelve goals they have scored to date, just five have come at Molineux, with Wolves failing to score in two out of their six home fixtures. Both West Ham (0-2) & Portsmouth (0-1) managed to keep Wolves at bay while playing at Molineux, which doesn’t bode at all well when you consider that both sides are in close proximity to Wolves, with Portsmouth bottom of the table and West Ham just a point better off then them.

The 4-0 defeat to Chelsea at the weekend was their biggest loss of the season, although, it came straight off the back of shipping yet another four goals at home to Arsenal, losing 4-1. We will give them some lean way in that both those emphatic defeats did come against two of leagues best sides but Birmingham have played Arsenal, Man Utd & Liverpool thus far and have only managed to amass six goals against, that’s two goals less then Wolves have shipped in their two clashed with the top four.

Still, we mustn’t forget that Wolves aren’t having to contest a game with a far superior opposition this weekend, although, Wolves have failed to make any impression against the leagues stragglers at home this season, failing to beat Hull City (1-1), West Ham United (0-2) & Portsmouth (0-1). They did manage to beat a tough Fulham side but that came in the middle of some disappointing home results and Wolves putting together a string of good home results just doesn’t seem likely. However, Wolves are now without a home win in three outings so perhaps they are well overdue one.

Birmingham City

League Position: 13th

Recent Form: LWDDW

Birmingham are steadily gaining revenge over Wolves for their second place finish behind Mick McCarthy’s side last season. Birmingham couldn’t keep up with Wolves in the Championship last season, although they were still delighted with their end of season finish. However, although Birmingham couldn’t bridge the gap on Wolves last season, finishing seven points adrift of the eventual champions of The Championship, they have managed to pull away from them back in Premiership, with Alex McLeish’s side now five points clear of 19^th placed Wolves.

Birmingham will do well to stay as far away from Wolves as possible as their opponents appear to be a relegation stricken club in the making. Birmingham, on the other hand, have been a far more solid outfit and a much tougher side to overcome. This has certainly shown in their recent run of results, going on an unbeaten four match run, a run which includes draws with Liverpool & Man City, two teams vying for top four berths, while decent victories over two improving teams in Sunderland (2-1) & Fulham (1-0), has seen them notch up eight points from their last four games, a fine tally which has enabled them to stretch away from the bottom three.

It’s rare to see Birmingham involved a good old fashioned thriller of a game, simply because they don’t give too much away when they do make rare strides into the opposing half. This does of course have it’s downfall’s, a distinct lack of goals being one of them, but it also makes them a tough nut to crack and often leaves them with at least a point to show for their efforts. This has been evident in recent outings, with Birmingham somewhat stealing more points then they probably deserved in their last two outings, somehow managing to score two at Liverpool in a game where they spent the vast majority of it defending, while they edged out Fulham at the weekend in a rather drab affair with very little goalmouth action.

It’s never pretty with Birmingham, but it’s certainly effective. Alex McLeish has recruited players that aren’t afraid to nail their colours to the mast, they work damn hard for one another and sure as hell fight hard in terms of defending. Although Birmingham’s defensive attitude has earned them a tidy defensive record, conceding 14 thus far, it has meant their goals for has suffered, with Birmingham scoring just eleven goals this season, of which six have come on the road. However, although at first glance that may look pretty poor, Birmingham have only failed to find the back of the net once on their travels, that coming on the opening day of the season at Old Trafford, a very tough venue to visit. However, Tottenham, Arsenal & even Liverpool, a team they scored two against, are all sides Birmingham have managed to put at least one past on the road this season, which isn’t a too bad early away C.V.

However, although they can score the odd away goal, they still aren’t earning nearly enough away points. Their away record currently stands at 1-1-4, which is dire, although, three of the four have come at extremely tough venues. Manchester United (1-0), Tottenham Hotspur (2-1) a game they were very unlucky to lose, and Arsenal (3-1), are all away games Birmingham lost.

Head-to-Head (Last 10):

Wolverhampton Wanderers W: 1 Birmingham City W: 1 Draws: 0

These two flirt all to often with relegation and this has shown in the amount of clashes between the two at Premiership level. 2004 was the last time these two met in the Premiership, but the pair played out two draws in the 2003/2004 season, with the game at Molineux ending 1-1. However, the pair have met a few times in the Championship recently, last season in fact, with Wolves beating Birmingham at St. Andrews but Birmingham did exact some form of revenge when they held Wolves to a 1-1 draw back at Molineux.  

Match Verdict:- Wolverhampton Wanderers to WIN – 2.50 Boylesports

We won’t tip this sort of result up all to often this season but if Wolves are going to win a handful of games this season then fixtures such as this should be snapped up. So far, Wolves haven’t shown an awful lot in their home fixtures but Birmingham haven’t been much cop on the road, either. If we’re completely honest, we couldn’t back anything in this game with any real confidence but for one reason or another, we can foresee a win for the home side. Wolves are good at creating decent chances at home, although converting them into goals has been a problem, but we feel they could just sneak a narrow result here, perhaps a 1-0 win.

Match Odds:

Wolverhampton Wanderers – 2.50 Boylesports

Draw – 3.30 Boylesports

Birmingham City – 3.20 WilliamHill

SoccerBetting Value Tip: 1-0 Correct Score – 8.00 Ladbrokes