Midlands derby comes to St Andrews tonight when Lee Bowyer’s Birmingham faces Wayne Rooney’s Derby at 8pm.
Lee Bowyer’s first full season as Birmingham manager has started with potential, the Blues are sitting in eighth position in the Sky Bet Championship having lost just one of their opening five matches.
Two wins and two draws from the other four fixtures is hardly title challenging form, but it does highlight just how far Birmingham have come since Bowyer took charge and managed to stave off relegation last season.
A top six finish is likely to be Bowyer’s target, and games such as this are must-wins if his team are serious about making the play-offs this term.
Wayne Rooney’s Derby have not made a bad start to the season themselves, losing just once in their opening five league matches, and that defeat came in a game the Rams were leading up until the 91st minute.
There have certainly been signs of encouragement for Derby so far, though it has to be said, Rooney’s men have only faced one side from the top half of last season’s Championship, having also already played two of the newly-promoted teams.
This will be a real test for the Rams, particularly with the physicality Birmingham will no doubt bring to the match-up and with the pending debut of Troy Deeney to lift the Blues even higher we see a bad night on the cards for Derby.
Our Predictions:
Birmingham Win @10/11
Birmingham Win and BTTS @4/1
Deeney to Score Anytime @6/4
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