Why Birmingham can further punish unpaid Pompey
The value call for tonight's clash at St Andrews is promotion-chasing Blues to lead at half-time and full-time at football betting odds of 7/5.
Though the snow may have caused Birmingham City to stumble to a home draw with Southampton at the weekend, they have the chance to get back on the winning track tonight against another south-coast side.
Compared to the financial problems that face perma-crisis club Portsmouth, having their game against Hull City suspended due to the frozen conditions was just a minor inconvenience.
However, not playing that match caused them to drop to 17th in the table and yesterday’s announcement by manager Michael Appleton that the club’s staff have not been paid for January means Pompey face the prospect of a 15-point deduction that would leave them bottom of the table.
A visit to the hottest team in the Championship – Blues have 14 points from the last 18 available – doesn’t offer Pompey a great chance to boost their prospects and they are serious underdogs at 9/2.
| Champions League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dortmund | 1-1 | Bayern Munich | £150.00 | (13/2) |
| Dortmund | 1-2 | Bayern Munich | £155.00 | (27/4) |
| Dortmund | 0-2 | Bayern Munich | £170.00 | (15/2) |
| Dortmund win | £88.00 | (17/5) | ||
| Draw | £82.00 | (31/10) | ||
| Bayern Munich win | £33.40 | (67/100) | ||
The home side are odds-on favourites at 31/50 in bwin’s 3Way football betting market, with the draw 13/5.
Until the big freeze iced their scoring streak at the weekend, Chris Hughton’s side had averaged well over three goals a game in a run of six straight wins in league and cup.
Given the differing states the two teams arrive at the game in, it would be no surprise to see Blues dominate and continue their run of winning every game in 2012 when they’ve led at half-time.
Backing Birmingham to be ahead at both half-time and full-time is available at a very tempting 7/5 with bwin.
Until the big freeze iced their scoring streak at the weekend, Chris Hughton’s side had averaged well over three goals a game in a run of six straight wins in league and cup.
New customers using the free £25 bet they receive when registering with bwin would win £118.75 if Birmingham do pick up another win in a game with over 3.5 goals.
With over half their goals coming in the last 30 minutes this season, it’s also worth backing Birmingham to get the majority of those goals in the second half at odds of 7/5.
Equally impressive has been Blues’ defensive form in that time, keeping five clean sheets in their winning run, and they are priced at 31/20 to pick up another win to nil.
While Portsmouth do have forwards with Premier League experience such as Benjani and Dave Kitson to worry Hughton, Blues’ solidity at the back, combined with their new-found attacking prowess, means punters should back them to overcome a 0-1 handicap at 33/20.
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