Birmingham City v Aston Villa preview
- By Drew Swainston on January 14, 2011 15:25 GMT
Two struggling Midlands teams go head-to-head at St Andrews on Sunday when Birmingham City entertains Aston Villa.
Both 'second city' sides expected to be sitting higher in the Premier League than they currently are, with Birmingham and Villa separated by only one point in 15th and 18th place respectively.
When the two teams met earlier in the season they played out a boring 0-0 draw, but then a Carling Cup clash in December saw Birmingham snatch a late victory in a thoroughly entertaining game.
Villa have a poor record on the road this season and have won only two points from their last 21 – which is the second worst record in the Premier League. Add onto this the fact that Birmingham have lost only two games at St Andrews and the statistics point to a home win and bookmakers seem to agree with 6/4 for a home victory.
The Blues have not had the better of their local rivals in recent years however, with Villa not losing to them in the league for almost six years. Birmingham will fancy their chances of ending that record however and securing their second win in a row over Villa having won their two games prior to the midweek Carling Cup defeat to West Ham.
Alex McLeish will give David Bentley his debut for Birmingham having signed the winger on loan from Spurs and he is seen at 14/1 to score the first goal in the tie, while Lee Bowyer can return to the midfielder after completing a three-match ban.
For Villa boss Gerard Houllier, Emile Heskey and Ashley Young are both suspended for the short trip and full back Luke Young and midfielder Fabian Delph both remain out injured. The French manager will be hoping the FA Cup win over Sheffield United last weekend can inspire some confidence among the Villa ranks as it ended a run of six defeats in eight Premier League games.
Both team need all three points to pull them clear of trouble, especially the visitors as they sit in the relegation places. The Premier League table is so tight this season that one win can see a club rise three or four places, while putting a run of victories together can quickly catapult a team into mid-table.
