Birmingham vs Brighton Predictions, Betting Tips and Match Previews

Birmingham made the bizarre decision to sack manager Gary Rowett on Wednesday. The former Burton boss has done a stunning job with the Blues, turning them from possible relegation candidates into a side that narrowly missed out on the play-offs last term and are looking strong top six contenders again, with just 3 points currently separating them from 3rd place. The full reasons for his dismissal may become clearer in time but on the face of it the decision to dismiss him less than 24 hours after a 2-1 win over Ipswich must rank as the strangest managerial sacking of the season so far.

You can only imagine what the Birmingham players must be thinking and with his backroom team also sent packing, there is pressure on the Blues board to make an appointment ahead of this game, with Gianfranco Zola touted as the early favourite to replace him. Although there have been a few poor recent displays, the common consensus is that Birmingham have over-achieved under Rowett, given the relative lack of quality in the squad and it’ll be difficult for his successor to emulate what he has managed.

Whoever is in charge of this game will have a big task on their hands to lift the Birmingham squad and also deal with the threat that a very impressive Brighton side will pose. They are on a 15 game unbeaten run in the Championship now, with 10 of those games ending in victory. Under Chris Hughton they’ve achieved a level of consistency that no other team in this league has been able to match and crucially they’ve been winning on the road on a fairly regular basis too.

They’ve won 4 of their last 5 Championship away games and average an impressive 1.9 points per game on their travels. In Glenn Murray they have a proven goalscorer at this level and his strike in midweek took him to 13 Championship goals this season, a tally only Dwight Gayle can better. Backing Murray to score anytime at 13/8 looks to offer value here with Birmingham having conceded 8 goals in their last 3 league games.

With Brighton looking so strong and Birmingham having made such an odd decision this week to remove Rowett, the visitors look much more the likely winners here. Therefore, backing Brighton to win at 21/20 looks to offer real value and the recent head-to-head also backs that up.