WEST BROM will be looking to bounce back from their first bump in the Championship road when they host freefalling Birmingham City in an intriguing Friday night fixture.
Valerian Ismael suffered his first league defeat as Baggies boss before the international break as his side lost 1-0 at Stoke in a game where my tip of the half-time draw came up.
That will have been eating away at him over the past two weeks but his side still remain on track for automatic promotion as they sit in second place, just three points behind Bournemouth.
Birmingham have been stuck at the other end of the table in the last few seasons but it looked like they might avoid another relegation battle when a 2-0 win at Derby moved them up to fourth and brought up a full house of tips for me.
But nothing has gone right for the Blues since then with Lee Bowyer's men taking just a point from their next five games to plunge back down the table.
They were battered 3-0 at home by Nottingham Forest before the international break and will need a vast improvement to stand a chance of avoiding defeat at the Hawthorns.
How the bookies view it
Birmingham's terrible form makes them 5/1 outsiders for this one with SBK while West Brom are just 11/17 with the same firm. The stalemate pays 16/5 with Bet365.
Recent head to head
The Baggies have bossed this fixture in recent years, going eight games without defeat since a 2-0 loss at St Andrews in 2006. It ended 0-0 at the Hawthorns when these sides last faced off but West Brom won 3-2 in Birmingham earlier that season (below).
Players to watch
Callum Robinson will be on a high for West Brom after scoring five times for Ireland against Azerbaijan and Qatar. That ended a run of nine games without a goal and he's 2/1 with Unibet to net against the Blues.
Birmingham's only goal from their last five games came via a Troy Deeney penalty. The boyhood Blues fan has disappointed since joining from Watford but might have benefitted from a break and is 3/1 with Unibet for anytime scorer.
Anything else catch the eye?
Birmingham's dismal run in front of goal points towards a West Brom clean sheet, although the Baggies have only kept two of those at home all season. Betting against both teams to score pays 6/7 at SBK while a West Brom win to nil is better at 17/10 with Betfred.
Most of the goals have come in the second half in the last three games for Ismael's side. Backing a repeat in this game pays 11/10 with Paddy Power.
The last four meetings of these sides have averaged over four cards a game so it could pay to back over 3.5 cards. But the bookies haven't priced up that market yet.
This England Championship match between West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City will be played on Oct 15, 2021 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best West Bromwich Albion vs Birmingham City prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
