Birmingham vs West Brom: Swift return to form for the Baggies

Birmingham vs West Brom: Bet Builder Tips, Opta Stats, Player Props

Two Midlands sides feature in the Birmingham vs West Brom bet builder tips article here at bettingexpert, facing off at St Andrews in Friday Night’s live Championship game.

Both teams have started the season better than expected and will be looking for crucial points to push them up the table. Our expert, Matthew O’Regan, has a 7.50 odds bet builder to whet the appetite for this one.

• John Swift to Score
• West Brom or Draw Double Chance
• Under 5 Goals in the Match

Bet Builder odds: 7.50

England, Championship, Friday 6th October , 20:00 (Uk)

Odds via bet365 as at Wednesday 4th October 12:00 Odds may now differ.

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Birmingham vs West Brom Stats and Match Facts: Baggies With The Upper Hand

• The sides have met 12 times since 2010 with Birmingham only winning three times
• Birmingham have won the last three meetings between the side
• John Swift is West Brom’s top scorer with 5 goals in 8 starts.
• Birmingham are the lowest scorers in the top half with 12 goals
• West Brom have had more possession the last eight times the sides have met.

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Birmingham vs West Brom Bet Builder Tips: Swift return to form for the Baggies

John Swift to Score

With six goals and nine assists last season, John Swift was quite a prominent figure in the West Brom attack despite the negative aspect of Steve Bruce’s lineup. This season, the 28-year-old has shown his attacking talents with five goals in eight starts, including the winner in the Baggies 1-0 victory over lowly Sheffield Wednesday.

The Chelsea academy graduate caught many people’s attention with his form in the 2021/2022 season, scoring 11 and assisting 13 goals for Reading. This prompted West Brom to make a move for him. With 21 goal contributions in 46 league starts, Swift is arguably West Brom’s most important attacker.

Brandon-Thomas-Asante is expected to lead the line, with Jed Wallace and John Swift playing just off him. If this is the case, this should see more opportunities for the midfield pair to attack the Birmingham goal. Thomas-Asante is a quick and powerful forward who brings others into play. The 24-year-old has nine goals in 41 appearances, so isn’t relied on as a goalscorer by Carlos Corberan.

West Brom or Draw Double Chance

Despite being plagued by off-the-field financial issues, West Brom have started this season well, with the Baggies currently in fifth place. Since the opening-day defeat at Blackburn, West Brom have only lost once in nine games and is currently five games unbeaten, keeping a clean sheet in four of these. A 2-2 draw at Watford was sandwiched in between 0-0 draws against Bristol City and Millwall. After this, the Baggies dismantled high-flying Preston 0-4, before battling to a 1-0 win over troubled Sheffield Wednesday.

Birmingham, too, have suffered off-the-field issues, but in John Eustace, they have a manager who has proven himself capable of stabilizing things on the pitch. After an impressive summer window, the Blues currently sit in 10th, one point off Friday’s opponents. A 4-1 home win over Huddersfield halted a run of six games without a win in all competitions for Eustace’s side. After losing 1-3 at home to Cardiff in the cup, Birmingham lost 2-0, 2-1, and 2-0 at Watford, Preston and Norwich respectively, while drawing 1-1 and 0-0 to Millwall and QPR.

West Brom currently possesses a strong team and should have enough to avoid defeat at St Andrews.

Under 5 Goals

The last selection indicates a boring game. Birmingham have scored 12 and conceded 10, with their games averaging 2.2 goals per game. Under 2.5 goals has landed in 8/10 league games, with under five landing in all bar the 4-1 win over Huddersfield. Birmingham’s lack of goal threat is evident in the fact that Sirki Dembele and Jay Stansfield share their top scorer accolade with three goals each.

West Brom have scored 17 and conceded 11 goals, with their games seeing an average of 2.8 goals. Under five goals has landed in 8/10 games and all five away games. In what should be a close and tight affair, under 2.5 goals should land.

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