Stoke vs Birmingham prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2024-01-19 15:00.
New boss Steven Schumacher’s start at Stoke City continued positively as he extended his side's unbeaten Championship run since his hiring to five games (W2, D3) with a 1-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Rotherham United last weekend. Stoke can now aim for back-to-back league victories for the first time since October, which would be a significant turn of events having gone winless in the eight outings prior to Schumacher’s arrival (D4, L4).
The bet365 Stadium faithful have been made to wait for the full Schumacher experience, since his two Championship home matches in charge have ended 0-0, underlining Stoke’s status as the league’s lowest home scorers this season. They ought to be confident that will change with the visit of Birmingham City, since it was Stoke’s 3-1 triumph over them on Boxing Day that earned Schumacher his first victory at the helm, and another here will register the Potters’ first league double over their upcoming opponents since the 1988/89 campaign!
Birmingham are also on the hunt to rewrite the history books, as a win of their own would see them earn consecutive away league victories over Stoke for the first time since November 1920! That would be a major feather in Tony Mowbray’s cap in what will be only his third game as Blues boss, although having registered just three career wins in 16 managerial encounters against Stoke (D3, L10), there’s a lot of work to be done if they’re to end that century-long wait.
It seems that most of Birmingham’s confidence will have to come from their midweek 2-1 FA Cup victory over Hull City, considering that they were without a win in the seven matches prior (D4, L3). Their away form hasn't been anything special either, seeing as nine of their 12 league losses this term have come on the road.
Players to watch: André Vidigal’s last Stoke strike came in that victory over Birmingham not so long ago, and he will be confident of doubling up here, since his six goals before that all came at home. Birmingham’s Jay Stansfield also scored that day, contributing to nine of his last 11 goals coming after half-time.
Hot stat: Just nine of Stoke’s last 31 Championship games have featured more than 2.5 goals.