Birmingham v Reading Preview
Posted on | December 19, 2008 | No Comments
This is undoubtedly the biggest fixture of the Championship weekend with 2nd place Birmingham being pitted against Reading who are in 3rd position. League leaders Wolves must be rubbing their hands together looking at this one and they’ll know that at least one of their rivals is about to drop points and give them a helping hand in achieving promotion.
Home side Birmingham were tipped to walk the league this season although that’s not been the case at all. The Blues are in 2nd place although just one point separates them from Reading, meaning that they could even fall out of the automatic positions should they suffer a defeat on Saturday. Alex McLeish’s men are coming off the back of a last minute defeat to Preston and considering that’s put their automatic promotion push in jeopardy, it’ll be interesting to see how they’ll bounce back. One thing that can be noted from Birmingham’s season is that they’re quite scrappy – although this isn’t always a bad thing. The Blues have tended to just win games by the odd goal which is quite strange considering some of the attacking talent they have at their disposal. With the goals flying in from all directions from both Wolves and Reading, McLeish will be looking to rectify this in the upcoming months.
As for Reading, Steve Coppell’s men have continued to impress in recent weeks and they’re within touching distance of that second automatic position. After comfortably beating Norwich 2-0 last week, they’ve now recorded four straight wins and the race for promotion is looking more exciting by the week. Unlike opponents Birmingham, the Royals seem to win games in more comfortable fashion with the likes of Kevin Doyle, Noel Hunt and Stephen Hunt providing valuable ammunition. Defensively they look sound as well and after conceding just seven goals in their last ten, they look to have developed a strong unit and will give Birmingham a very stern test.
In terms of team news, Birmingham’s problems finally seem to be easing with no less than three players hoping to make a comeback. Sebastian Larsson, Damien Johnson and James McFadden have all recovered from their respective injuries but it remains to be seen whether or not Alex McLeish will throw them in this early. As for the visitors, Adam Federici looks set to continue between the sticks while Marcus Hahnemann recovers from a calf injury. Elsewhere, Jimmy Kebe is suspended while Andre Bikey looks set to be ruled out with a shin problem.
As for a prediction, we’re going to be boring. Both sides possess plenty of quality and even though Reading are in better form at the moment, we think Birmingham’s home advantage will play a massive factor here and they’ll be able to muster a draw in front of their own crowd – 1-1.
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- Reading v Birmingham Preview
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