Premier League betting – Birmingham vs Aston Villa

Birmingham vs Aston Villa betting preview

Birmingham League Position: 15th League Form: DLDLW

Birmingham’s season has been one characterized by unpredictability. Their home form was the rock they built their great season upon last year however they haven’t been able to repeat it this year. Their better results though have been at St Andrews this season, a feat they will definitely want to repeat against local and relegation rivals Villa. David Bentley’s arrival at St Andrews is an interesting one also, when Bentley arrived at Spurs before people were making comparisons to David Beckham, but as his form dropped he dropped down the pecking order behind Niko Kracjar and Aaron Lennon. David Bentley’s possible debut though means that he has very good odds of 15.0 on SkyBet and Bet365.

Defender Liam Ridgewell has also been in good scoring form this season and has odds of 10.0 to score anytime on Bet 365. The last time these two sides met as well it was a 0-0 draw with both sides cancelling each other out quite nicely however this game along with the rivalry has a lot more riding on it.

Aston Villa League Position: 18th League Form: WLLDL

Villa are having a nightmare season, after Martin O’ Neill left and Gerrard Houlier was appointed Villa fans thought that under the Frenchman’s helm they would be OK.  This has been far from the reality, Villa are now languishing in the relegation zone and this tie that last year was a battle for midland supremacy now is a relegation scrap. Emile Heskey’s form under his old boss has been better though and his return to fitness can only be a good thing for Houlier, he is priced at 3.5 on Bet365 to score at any time.

Villa however are still relying on a young squad and one that is lacking in experience at this level, while names like Albrighton and Lilacj have performed well, they still are finding it hard to adapt to life in the Premier league. This derby is sure to bring with it a number of heated exchanges and with that a good few cards,  so a bet on there to be a sending off in this game with odds of 3.3 on Extrabet could be a good investment. With both teams rather lacking in form it is definitely a difficult one to call, however in the last few games Villa have looked truly dreadful and things look like they could only get worse for the Villains, so a Birmingham win looks likely.

Highlighted Bets

First Goalscorer David Bentley 15.0 SkyBet
Anytime Goalscorer Liam Ridgewell 10.0 Bet365
Anytime Goalscorer Emile Heskey 3.5 Bet365
Outright Birmingham 2.5 William Hill

By John Fernandez

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