Birmingham vs Millwall prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-09-01 11:30.
Birmingham’s unbeaten start to the Championship season (W3, D1) continued with a Hollywood-worthy win over Plymouth last weekend, as Jay Stansfield, who arrived on loan just one day prior, came on and hammered home the winner in stoppage time. The Blues were lacklustre in their 3-1 midweek cup defeat against Cardiff, although they can now resume full focus on their unlikely jaunt up the Championship table.
Any fans who leave St Andrew’s early to beat the traffic will have been kicking themselves twice this season after both of their home league games saw stoppage time winners. Perhaps they’ll stay longer as they wait for their financially rejuvenated side to end an almost decade long wait for a home H2H win over Millwall (D4, L3), which includes a run of four consecutive draws.
The Lions will enjoy extra preparation time for this clash after their early elimination from the Carabao Cup, and that could prove key as they look to build on their 1-0 win over Stoke last weekend that ended a run of three straight defeats. Manager Gary Rowett praised the “aggression” of his men in their latest win, but he ought to be wary of this game given the fact his side haven’t put together consecutive wins since March.
In spite of their stop-start nature, don’t let Millwall’s outsider status fool you, as the Lions boast a rather respectable 58% unbeaten rate in their away league matches as the betting underdogs since the start of last season (W6, D5, L8), although one of the draws in that sequence was a 0-0 snoozefest here at St Andrew’s.
Players to watch: With cameo superstar Lukas Jutkiewicz suspended (G2, A1), Birmingham’s Scott Hogan will look to build on his back-to-back scoring appearances. As for Millwall, Kevin Nisbet finally built on his impressive pre-season with his first competitive goal for the club last weekend, and he’ll now hope to kick on after scoring in back-to-back appearances three times for Hibernian last season.
Hot stat: Just one of Birmingham’s six competitive games this season saw a goalless first-half.