On Friday night in the Championship Burton face a home game against Birmingham, and the home side are still looking for their first win of the campaign. Three defeats in a row has left them at the foot of the table and that is something they will quickly want to address. Birmingham have had a mixed start to the campaign, but at least have a win under their belts. With both teams struggling to score goals, this may be a very low scoring affair, and anyone who can take just one chance could be the team that wins it.
Burton Form
Although many people will have expected to see Burton struggle this season, their start has been very disappointing. A home defeat to Cardiff got them off on the wrong foot, and defeats away at Hull and Middlesbrough has left them stuck to the bottom of the table.
One area that will really worry the fans at Burton is their lack of goals. They don’t have a tight defence, so goals are crucial and so far they have scored just one goal from three league games. That has to improve if they are to have any chance of survival this season, despite us being still in August.
Regardless of whether Burton can improve, I think they are going to be involved in the relegation struggle this season, they don’t have the financial power to play against the bigger clubs. That means every point is going to be vital for them, especially home points and they can’t afford to go another home game without picking one up here.
Birmingham Form
A mixed start to the season has seen Birmingham win one, draw one and lose one so far. Their defeat came on the opening day so that means they are unbeaten in their last two league games. A good win last weekend against Bristol City was followed up by a disappointing draw at home to Bolton, highlighting a problem that Birmingham.
In their three games so far, Birmingham have struggled for goals just like Burton. They have scored just two goals, both of those coming in their win over Bristol City. Their lack of goals is a worry, although they have had injury problems, and it is something that needs addressing as soon as possible.
I expect to see Birmingham finish mid-table this season, although with a lack of goals they could find themselves falling down the table towards the relegation places, somewhere they do not want to be.
Team News
Burton have really struggled to create anything at all this season. In three games they have scored once and only had two shots on target, a terrible record that must improve. Players like Lloyd Dyer and Lucas Akins need to produce more and do everything they can to get their team out of the position they are in.
Birmingham have also struggled to score this season, but they have been missing players due to injury. Che Adams is still out but after playing 45 minutes against Bolton, Lukas Jutkiewicz may be able to play a bigger part in this one. He is capable of scoring and is a player than Birmingham could really do with right now to give them some goals.
Top Betting Tips
This looks to be a very low scoring affair, with two teams who are struggling in front of goal so far this season. With this, I am expecting this game to also be short of goals. I am going to place two bets on this game and my first bet is under 1.5 goals in the game, which is priced at 15/8 with Stan James and Paddy Power. I think this represents value, and the likely outcome in this one is either a scoreless draw or a 1-0 victory either way.
My second bet on the game is for Birmingham to win the game, which is priced at 13/8 with Stan James and William Hill. If there is a winner of this game then it is likely to be Birmingham, who are the best team in this game. They have struggle for goals, but the return of Lukas Jutkiewicz will help that and he may be enough to get them over the line.
Burton will be desperate to secure their first win of the season but I am not sure they have the quality to beat Birmingham. They look to be in for a struggle this season and I am happy to back against them in this game.