Blackpool vs Birmingham prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2022-12-09 15:00.
The World Cup break could not have come at a better time for Blackpool, who lost four successive games before the Championship’s hiatus. Any talk of a potential play-off push has been firmly doused, and now the focus is merely on escaping the bottom three in time for Boxing Day, with Tangerines boss Michael Appleton amongst the prime candidates to be axed next.
By that time, most clubs will have played exactly half of their regular-season games, so Blackpool know how crucial their penultimate home match of 2022 could be, knowing that five of the last six teams occupying the relegation zone after 23 rounds have been relegated. But having shown the ability to strike late in recent home wins, with their last two both seeing them net twice beyond the 80th minute, they can seldom be dismissed as a lost cause.
If Birmingham City are to maintain their upward trajectory, they’ll firstly need to strengthen their core in pursuit of a first clean sheet since November 2nd. A 2-1 home defeat to Sunderland nearly a month ago left the Blues in 14th place heading into the break, and on course for a seventh successive finish in the bottom half of a league they’ve continually occupied since 2011/12.
Psychologically, the Blues will also need to contend with sour memories of their last trip to Bloomfield Road, finding themselves on the wrong end of a 6-1 scoreline back in April, capitulating to a result that broke a chain of nine H2H encounters either ending level or settled by one goal.
Players to watch: Jerry Yates netted inside the final ten minutes of regular time in April’s corresponding fixture, as well as doing the same in each of Blackpool’s last two home wins. By contrast, Scott Hogan is a true early bird for Birmingham, scoring during the opening quarter-hour in both of the Blues’ two most recent games not to end in defeat.
Hot stat: Four of Blackpool’s last five matches won or lost have been settled by a single-goal margin.