Reason For Betting Tips
Birmingham were one of the surprise packages last season, when they were in the frame for a play-off place for most of the campaign and they look to be exceeding pre-season expectations again. The Blues come into this game in 6th place and have suffered just 1 league defeat so far this term. Their latest match saw them draw 1-1 at QPR on Saturday following a late revival to turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win at home to Sheffield Wednesday the previous weekend.
Preston finished just 1 place and 1 point below Birmingham last season in the end to also exceed expectations following their return to the Second tier. Their form has been a bit patchy this season though and they come into this game in 19th place, having lost 6 of their 9 league matches. They did win last time out though, beating Wigan 1-0 at Deepdale on Friday and including a surprise League Cup win at Bournemouth, they’ve actually won 5 of their last 8 matches in all competitions, so they have responded pretty well to losing their first 3 league games this term. Although that 5-0 loss at Brentford only 10 days ago was a glaring exception to that.
This looks like it is going to be a close game. Birmingham are the favourites but often they aren’t entirely comfortable with that and they’ve tended to enjoy life on the road or at home when the pressure is off, during the Gary Rowett era. They’ve won their last two Championship home games against Norwich and Sheffield Wednesday, two of the promotion hopefuls, when they were treated as underdogs. However, they hadn’t won any of their previous 8 league games at St Andrews with the likes of Cardiff, Fulham, Leeds and this week’s opponents Preston all getting results in the Second City.
With the Lancashire side looking to have turned a bit of a corner, backing Double Chance – Preston or Draw at 3/4 looks to offer value here.
Head To Head
Preston are unbeaten in 5 games against Birmingham. Both meetings last season were drawn.
Stats
Both teams have scored in 8 of Birmingham's last 10 home games. They've only won two of them. Preston have avoided defeat in 59% of their away games since returning to the Second Tier last season.
Team News
Leading goalscorer Clayton Donaldson and playmaker Diego Fabbrini will undergo late fitness tests. First-choice keeper Tomasz Kuszczak is still out.
Preston could be unchanged, meaning Chris Maxwell may keep his place in goal following a solid showing on his Championship debut on Friday. Marnick Vermijl and Jermaine Beckford are both out with hamstring problems.
