Birmingham vs Derby Betting Tips

It has been a slow start to life under Paul Clement for pre-season title favourites Derby County. Perhaps that tag was more of a curse than a blessing in what already looks like an incredibly competitive league with the majority of sides all harbouring ambitions of securing a top six finish.

Derby are yet to win under the former Real Madrid and PSG coach, drawing 0-0 at Bolton on the opening day before a 1-1 draw at home to Charlton on Saturday and another 1-1 home draw with Middlesbrough in midweek. They were also dumped out of the Capital One Cup by League Two Portsmouth and Clement will be hungry for his maximum points here.

The Rams have had the same problem in all their games. They have controlled the ball and enjoyed plenty of possession even against fellow promotion favourites Middlesbrough on Tuesday but were reliant on an 88th minute equaliser to secure a point. At times their build-up play has been slow and a tally of 3 goals from 4 matches says more about their inability to create clear openings than anything. In Darren Bent they have a clinical finisher even at the higher level but so far Clement has opted to leave the former England international on the bench.

Clement may have to change his side’s style a bit to adapt to the demands of the Championship but it is unlikely we will see anything radically different from Derby just 3 days on at St Andrews.

Gary Rowett has impressed everyone at Birmingham since taking over the hotseat last season and they have started well this term. A 2-1 home win over Reading represented the perfect start and they secured Capital One Cup progress and a 2-2 draw at Burnley in a strong opening week. They also have had the luxury of not playing in midweek after their game at Brentford was called off due to a dodgy pitch at Griffin Park. They should therefore be the fresher of the two teams in this encounter.

Derby’s summer purchases have made them the team to beat in the Championship but that might just see one or few teams raise their game when they play them and Birmingham often enjoy the underdogs tag. Without the creativity of Will Hughes they are lacking that midfield spark and they have now won just 2 of their last 16 Championship matches.

Therefore there is value in backing a buoyant Birmingham side to shock them here and you can back them at Evens with your money back if the game ends in a draw, which is a possibility that certainly can’t be ruled out.

The Blues don’t score a lot of goals though and with Derby struggling themselves in that department a 1-0 home win might be worth backing at 8/1.