Swansea vs Birmingham prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-02-03 15:00.
Manager Russell Martin will be hoping Swansea’s failure to sign a single player on transfer deadline day doesn’t come back to haunt them. The South Wales club have had two weeks since their 1-1 draw with QPR to strengthen their squad and revive their Championship promotion hopes, but saw a desperate last-ditch move for West Brom’s Karlan Grant fall through.
The inability to bring in a striker in particular will worry fans, given Michael Obafemi has departed for table-topping Burnley. Yet it is arguably in defence where the Swans have struggled most, given their total of 38 goals conceded is more than any club above them in the table. That porous back third recorded just two clean sheets and two wins from Swansea’s last twelve league outings (D6, L4).
Perhaps the visit of Birmingham will provide some comfort, given the Blues themselves have failed to score on each of their last three visits to the Swansea.com Stadium (D2, L1). After losing their last five league outings, the most recent of which was 2-1 at home to mid-table Preston, the Midlands outfit are also looking to avoid their worst run of Championship form for five years whilst widening an uncomfortable six-point gap from the drop zone at the start of the round.
That has left manager John Eustace hoping the FA Cup has given his side the shot in the arm to kick-start their campaign. Jordan James’ last-gasp strike last weekend had earned a fourth round replay against Blackburn, which City lost 1-0 after extra-time on Tuesday, but the boss insists “there were loads of positives to take out of the game”.
Players to watch: Swansea’s top scorer Joël Piroe has lost just one of his last 14 goalscoring appearances for the club (W7, D6). He will be trying to outscore opposite number nine Scott Hogan, who has suffered one defeat from six league clashes with the Swans (W3, D2), netting three goals along the way.
Hot stat: Four of the last ten league meetings between these two teams have ended 0-0, including the last two at the Swansea.com Stadium.