Birmingham vs Hull prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-10-24 18:45.
The first home game of the Wayne Rooney era at Birmingham City takes place on Wednesday evening, with the former England captain looking to get his side back on track after a 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough at the weekend. It was Blues’ fourth successive away loss, yet at St Andrew’s they are unbeaten in the league this season (W4, D2), conceding only four goals there in the process.
Ahead of this midweek round, only top-of-the-table Leicester City have a meaner defence than Birmingham in the division, but Rooney will be looking for more from his attackers after highlighting a “lack of care in the final third” against Middlesbrough. He may see his wish granted here, with Birmingham scoring seven times in their previous two home contests.
Hull City travel south for this clash looking to reverse a poor run of form which has seen them win only one of their last seven and take just two points from their last four outings, causing them to slip out of the play-off positions. Towards the end of September, Liam Rosenior’s men were up in fourth place, but they come into this round of fixtures down in 12th after Southampton ran out 2-1 winners at the MKM Stadium on Saturday, making it five matches without a clean sheet for the Tigers.
Despite both coaches being desperate for a victory, there could well be a friendly rivalry between the two dugouts, with Rosenior previously serving as Rooney’s assistant during his time in charge of Derby County. The Hull head coach will now hope to show everyone the apprentice has become the master, as he takes his team to Birmingham with a strong recent H2H record in tow (W4, D3, L1), having secured a 1-0 win at St Andrew’s last term.
Players to watch: Siriki Dembélé netted twice in a recent 4-1 home triumph for Birmingham against Huddersfield and has been on the winning side in five of his last seven goalscoring appearances (D1, L1). Adama Traoré has bagged in two of Hull’s last three away games, with both goals coming in the first half but neither as the visitors’ first of the match.
Hot stat: Apart from a 0-0 draw with QPR, Birmingham have scored the final goal in all of their home league encounters this season.