Aston Villa vs Birmingham Predictions

Victory for Aston Villa before the international break took them ahead of this weekends opponents, and local rivals, Birmingham City following the Blues 3-3 draw with Hull City. This weekend the pair face-off against one another in the Second City Derby, a match Villa won 2-0 last season. The pair both sit in mid table in the Championship with seventeen games played, but more is expected of both clubs this season, especially Aston Villa who would have been hoping to challenge for promotion back to the Premier League.

Aston Villa met another of the Midlands’ clubs last time out, when they cruised to a 3-0 win over Derby County. The two sides went in level at the break after what turned out to be a tight and tense first forty-five minutes, and the visitors didn’t break the deadlock until the seventy-fourth minute when McGinn was setup by on-loan Everton winger Bolasie. McGinn then turned provider for Abraham four minutes later as Villa tightened their grip on the match, and the three points were wrapped up with six minutes left on the clock when midfielder Hourihane made it 3-0.

Aston Villa had 56% of the overall possession, more corners and more shots during the ninety minutes and in the end were well worthy of the three points. The victory turned out to be a even more special as it took Villa above local rivals Birmingham City heading into their clash this weekend. With five goals in the Championship so far this season, Abraham top scores for Aston Villa and is likely to lead the line for the hosts on Sunday.

Birmingham City striker Jutkiewicz has made an impressive start to the campaign with nine goals in seventeen starts for the Blues, but teammate Che Adams has been almost as impressive with eight goals to his name. Both players are fit and ready to take on Villa and they will want to earn the bragging rights for the City fans as it has been over a decade since Birmingham beat Aston Villa in the league.

Despite Che Adams scoring a hat trick when Birmingham City last took the field against Hull City at home, the hosts had to settle for a point as the pair played out a 3-3 draw. Two goals from Adams saw Birmingham head into the half time break 2-0 up, but two goals from Hull’s Campbell brought the teams level by the hour mark. Polish winger Grosicki scored in the seventy-third minute to put Hull City in front for the first time in the match, but Adams earned his side a share of the spoils and completed his hat trick in the eighty-fourth minute.

The hosts have a scored more goals than than Birmingham City so far this season, but the visitors have a better defensive record and it will be interesting to see which way this game goes on Sunday. Derby matches tend to be tight, tense, and often a little boring, but were hoping that wont be the case on Sunday.

We’re confident that Aston Villa will win and we have backed the final scoreline to read 1-0. Aston Villa haven’t lost in the league against Birmingham since 2005, and six of their last seven home Second City Derby’s have ended in victory. Villa have won three of their last six matches, two of which have come at Villa Park, and last time out against Derby County at Pride Park.