Birmingham to halt Everton's Europa push
Only six of the last 50 clubs that Birmingham have faced twice in the same league campaign have beaten them on both occasions so Everton look a little on the short side at [1.58] to get the better of the Carling Cup winners on Wednesday evening.
Admittedly, Birmingham's prospects are looking a lot gloomier than they did in the immediate aftermath of their surprise Wembley triumph thanks to their 3-1 home defeat to West Brom on Saturday, which leaves them down in the bottom three and with their other game away to Chelsea.
That's why they have to be targeting a point or three tonight in Merseyside and while away wins are a rarity for the Blues, with just two - against fellow strugglers Blackpool and West Ham - achieved all season, they have only actually lost five of their dozen Premier League matches on the road.
Likewise, Everton are fairly strong as hosts, but are far from spectacular, failing to overcome any of Birmingham's bottom-five buddies and suffering an FA Cup upset at the hands of Reading eight days ago. They were victorious at St Andrew's in October, heralding the gradual decline of Alex McLeish's team's home form, yet last did the double over them in 1985-86, during their title-challenging pomp.
The Toffees welcomed the cup kings - who have another trip to Wembley in sight when they face Bolton in the FA Cup quarter-finals at the weekend - twice last season without success and have in fact won just one in five against them at Goodison Park, causing the Everton lay to appeal at [1.59].
The draw is offered at big odds of [4.1] and is more tempting than the Blues win at [7.6], while under 2.5 goals is generously priced at [1.88] despite being a feature of seven of their last nine league scraps. 1-1 has been the scoreline in five of the last 13, so consider that too at [9.4].
Disagree? Think Everton will deliver? They are [2.46] to lead at both intervals...
Published: 9 Mar 2011
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