Birmingham vs Rotherham prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-03-10 15:00.
Discontent towards Birmingham City’s tenth manager in seven seasons is intensifying after they allowed relegation contenders Wigan Athletic more than 70% of possession in a 1-1 away draw that did little to reinforce Birmingham’s own chances of survival. After five consecutive Championship outings without a win (D1, L4), John Eustace’s job could be on the line if they cannot leapfrog Rotherham United into 18th place.
Despite admitting they left two points behind at Wigan, Eustace felt his team “deserved to win” as they missed a penalty and hit the woodwork twice during the contest. Birmingham’s inability to often overcome the worst-faring teams in the competition is illustrated by a poor Championship record of W2, D2, L5 against clubs currently 18th or lower in the standings, and that is something that has played an instrumental role in what could be a seventh consecutive bottom-third finish for the Blues.
After bouncing between the Championship and League One for several years under Paul Warne, Rotherham and new boss Matt Taylor continue to face the same challenge of surviving a Championship season for the first time since 2015/16. A much-welcomed 3-1 win at home to QPR last time out did at least keep them out of danger for a few more rounds.
A buoyant Taylor believes his team is “growing” and “moving in the right direction” after back-to-back home wins, but there is still plenty of work to be done on the road with Rotherham beginning this round as one of five clubs in the league averaging fewer than one point per away game (W2, D8, L8). Like their hosts, they too cannot take trips to lower-ranked clubs for granted, having not yet defeated a current bottom-eight side away from home (D3, L2).
Players to watch: At the end of last weekend, only three goalkeepers had faced more shots on target across the Championship season than Birmingham veteran John Ruddy, who has registered just one clean sheet from his last 13 starts. Seeking to continue that misery early and find his seventh first-half goal in all competitions this season will be Rotherham’s Chiedozie Ogbene.
Hot stat: All but one of Rotherham’s last nine Championship away matches produced a 1-0 half-time score.