Premier League betting – Man City vs Birmingham

Man City vs Birmingham betting preview

Manchester City     League Position: 4th     Form: WWLLWD

Manchester City battled out a 0-0 draw last time out in a fairly uneventful Manchester Derby in midweek. But will be looking to get back to winning ways at the weekend when they take on a struggling Birmingham City. The Citizens go into the home tie firm favourites and best priced at 4/9 with BetFred. Argentine Striker Carlos Tevez is favourite to open the scoring after netting nearly half of all City’s Premier League goals so far this season, but is a very good bet at 10/3 with Bet365. Young striker Mario Balotelli will be missing for the weekend after picking up a three match ban against West Brom, but manager Roberto Mancini has no other injury worries.

Birmingham City     League Position: 17th     Form: LLWDDL

Birmingham City went down 3-2 at Stoke in midweek despite fighting back from two goals down and consequently slipping to fourth bottom in the Premier League. Resiliency has been the key for Alex McLeish’s men this season, seeing them come back from a two goal deficit three times already this season, although on none of those occasions have they been able to go on and win the game. Draws have also been a theme with the Blues drawing half of their games this season, a statistic which is only beaten by Sunderland. Whilst it will be a difficult outing for Birmingham who haven’t won at Manchester City since 1998, there is some good value in a draw with Bet365 and SkyBet offering odds of 7/2. The Blues also travel to Manchester with no new injury doubts but are still without longer term absentees Maik Taylor and James McFadden.

Match Prediction Manchester City at best odds 4/9 Bet Fred

Birmingham were a little unlucky in midweek but have conceded 5 goals in the last two games, whilst Manchester City have conceded none, prompting some criticism of Roberto Mancini’s defensive tactics. Nevertheless, the Manchester side should find enough to see off a struggling Birmingham, who will no doubt come to keep it tight in hope of an upset. In which case a 2-1 City win is the standout bet with odds of 7/1 available at Bet 365.  Whilst Cameron Jerome has scored in his last two outings for Birmingham and is showing good value to open the scoring with odds of 11/1 with Bet 365.

By Sam Markham

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