West Ham United vs Birmingham Predictions

West Ham’s opponents may sit a division below them heading into this weekends clash in the FA Cup, but Birmingham still lead the head to head record between the two clubs and are in the midst of an unbeaten run of five games in the Championship. The Hammers sit tenth in the Premier League table, but have been inconsistent in their results of late and will be wary of the potential banana skin they face on Saturday, despite being the clear favourites to progress through to the next round.

The Hammers showed great spirit to come from two goals down to rescue a point at home to Brighton, but their fans would have been expecting to win the game before kick-off. The first half was fairly uneventful and produced no goals, but Brighton scored twice in the space of two second half minutes through Stephens and Duffy to take a commanding lead at the London Stadium. The hosts responded well to going behind and scored twice through their talisman Arnautović, also in the space of two minutes, to earn a share of the spoils. On the balance of play a draw was probably a fair result as Brighton created just as many chances as their hosts and looked dangerous from set pieces.

Promotion hopefuls Birmingham City picked up a point from their trip to Hillsborough on New Years Day, but had to come from behind after former Scotland international Fletcher put Wednesday in front in the eighteenth minute. Birmingham found themselves one goal down at the break, but took just three second half minutes to level the match through Che Adams, after good work from former Everton reserve Jutkiewicz. The visitors had more of the overall possession, but found their finishing to be wayward in the final third and a draw was a true reflection of the match.

You have to go back to 2012 to find the last match played between West Ham and Birmingham City, and that was when both teams were plying their trade in the Championship. That game at the old Boleyn Ground produced six goals and saw the points shared in what was an open, end to end, exciting game of football that pleased the eye. Goals from Mutch and King saw Birmingham move 2-0 in front in the first half an hour, and even after Vaz Té pulled a goal back for the Hammers in first half stoppage time, there was still room for Birmingham to restore their two goal lead through Burke before the referee blew for half time. Carlton Cole pulled a goal back for the hosts with twenty minutes left on the clock and Vaz Té rescued a point for West Ham when the Portuguese international converted an eighty-eighth minute penalty to make it 3-3.

West Ham edge the form guide, despite losing more of their last six matches than their guests. The Hammers have picked up three wins, one draw, and suffered two defeats from their last six league games, while Birmingham have won two, drawn three, and lost just once. Felipe Anderson top scores for the Hammers so far this season with eight Premier League goals in his debut season at the London Stadium, while Adams has twelve in the Championship for Birmingham and is closely followed by Jutkiewicz on ten.

We’re confident that both teams will score on Saturday, and have backed the game to end in a 1-1 draw. Three of the last six meetings between the two clubs have ended in a draw, and both teams have scored in five of those last six encounters. Both teams have scored in three of West Ham’s last six matches, while Birmingham City have scored in four of their last five matches and that’s why were expecting both teams to score on Saturday as well.