Birmingham City vs Fulham

Premier League, England

Match date: Saturday, Nov 21, 2009

Stadium: St Andrews Stadium

Birmingham continued the good run of results by picking up a point from Anfield, and a win over Fulham would take them back to safety. The Cottagers have rediscovered their form and they again look like the team that were the most pleasant surprise of the last Premiership campaign.  If you have been reading our betting previews on regular basis, you remember we kept saying Birmingham had too much quality to go down and we are glad to see our predictions spot on. The Blues took five points from last three games and the fact they faced Sunderland, Manchester City and Liverpool during this period basically says it all. Alex McLeish’s side have shown they have the quality for a mid table finish and there is no way they would get relegated this season. Therefore, we see a great value in backing . The Blues deserved to win at Anfield two weeks ago but they will, nevertheless, be full of confidence after the great performance against the title contenders. They will now try to beat Fulham and thus further escape the dangerous zone but that is not going to be easy. The good thing is Alex McLeish has almost full squad to choose from with Gary O’Connor being the only first team regular unavailable for this match since midfielder Keith Fahey has recovered from ankle injury and he will be fit to face Fulham. Fulham didn’t have the best of starts to the season as the team seem to have had problems dealing with the heavy schedule but they are now back in business. The Cottagers are unbeaten in their last five Premiership games and will try to extend that run at St Andrew’s. They are set to adopt their trademark defensive approach since even one point would do them a lot of good. We don’t think the visitors will be going forward in numbers and with Brimingham defence doing well lately, we see a good value in backing . Boss Roy Hodgson could receive a welcoming boost since both Danny Murphy and Andy Johnson are nearing their return from injuries and they could play some part in this match. Simon Davies, on the other hand, is likely to start on the bench even though is far from reaching full fitness. One thing you need to take into consideration is that these players have missed several weeks of action and they will need some time to gain match fitness. Therefore, we are not sure the Cottagers will profit from having Murphy and Johnson on the starting line-up against Birmingham. Both teams look to be in very good form but we will back Birmingham here. The Blues have been very consistent lately and played some very good football against the best teams in the league, while Alex McLeish is able to field a full strength team unlike his counterpart. We will post information about results of this match, as soon as posible.