Birmingham City and Sunderland square off in a Friday night Championship fixture. Neither side has been convincing in recent weeks and they look set to cancel each other out.
Birmingham City are coming off a 2-2 draw with Swansea City in their previous Championship fixture. They took an early lead through Scott Hogan but needed a late equaliser from Troy Deeney to earn a share of the spoils.
That result means Birmingham City are now unbeaten in their last four matches, although only two of those fixtures have been wins. John Eustace’s men are currently 10th on the table, just three points off the payoff places.
Birmingham City have done some good work at St Andrew’s Stadium in recent weeks and are unbeaten in their last six home matches. However, only two of these fixtures are wins while they have been held four times in that run.
Sunderland are not having things smooth in recent weeks as they head into Friday’s clash with just one win in their last five. They are currently 17th on the table, just four points off the top 10 and bottom three and will be keen to avoid getting dragged into the relegation scrap.
The Black Cats suffered a 1-0 home defeat to Cardiff City in their previous Championship fixture. They were punished for their wastefulness in front of goal, failing to make their dominant possession or 11 attempts on goal count.
The good news for Sunderland is that they have done some good work on their recent travels. Tony Mowbray’s men are unbeaten in their last two away matches and claimed a 2-0 victory over Huddersfield Town the last time they were on the road.
How the bookies view it
Birmingham City have the edge among the bookies with a home win priced at 7/5 with Sport Nation. A victory for Sunderland is valued at 11/5 by Coral while a draw is also set at odds of 11/5 by William Hill.
Recent head to head
Birmingham City and Sunderland have claimed two wins each and as many draws from their last six meetings. The Blues picked up a 3-1 home victory in the last meeting between both teams back in 2018.
Players to watch
Scott Hogan could be worth keeping an eye on for Birmingham City after taking his tally for the season to nine Championship goals. The striker has also found the net in his last two matches and is priced at 9/4 by bet365 to maintain his scoring run.
Amad Diallo has carried much of Sunderland’s attacking threat in recent weeks, scoring in two of his last four matches. The attacker was also on target in the win at Huddersfield Town and is priced at 5/1 by bet365 to find the net on Friday.
Anything else catch the eye?
There were goals for both teams in their last two meetings and a repeat is valued at 5/6 with Betfred. Birmingham City saw over 3.5 goals in their last fixture and a similar outcome is priced at 10/3 by Unibet, who are also offering odds of 5/4 for over 2.5 goals.
A cagey opening is expected on Friday, so the second half could be tipped to produce the most goals at 11/10 with Paddy Power.
This England Championship match between Birmingham City and Sunderland will be played on Nov 11, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Birmingham City vs Sunderland prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.