MX23RW : Tuesday, April 23 16:29:54| >> :600:383551:383551:
[monks data]
Brentford logo
Championship
Aug 23, 2014 at 3pm UK
 
Birmingham logo

1-1

Odubajo (79')
FT(HT: 0-1)
Caddis (16' pen.)

Preview: Brentford vs. Birmingham City

Sports Mole looks ahead to Saturday's Championship encounter between Brentford and Birmingham City at Griffin Park.

Life in the Championship has started fairly well for Brentford, and they will be confident of picking up another three points when they host Birmingham City at Griffin Park on Saturday.

The Bees began with a late equaliser to rescue a point at home to Charlton Athletic, while a narrow defeat away to Bournemouth was certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

However, it would have still come as a major relief to Mark Warburton's side when they picked up their first victory of the season on Tuesday night, coming from behind to beat beleaguered Blackpool at Bloomfield Road.

After three consecutive away games, including an incredible 6-6 draw against Dagenham & Redbridge in the League Cup, Brentford will be pleased to get back to Griffin Park, where they lost just three times on their way to automatic promotion from League One last season.

Home form is again likely to be crucial this time around, and a match against a Birmingham side also expected to be battling against relegation provides a good chance for their first Griffin Park win of the campaign.

New signing Andre Gray started the first two league games of the season but was left out of the squad entirely on Tuesday having picked up a knock against Bournemouth, and he is expected to be fit to start again this weekend.

Whether he will be able to push fellow new boy Nick Proschwitz out of the side remains to be seen, however, as Warburton could be tempted to stick with his winning formula from midweek.

Birmingham, meanwhile, must pick themselves up from their midweek encounter against Ipswich Town as the Tractor Boys scored a 94th-minute equaliser to steal a point from St Andrew's.

That result leaves the Blues on four points from their first three games - the same total as this weekend's opponents - and manager Lee Clark will be fairly happy with how his side have started the campaign.

He will be particularly pleased with the improved home form of his side, with Saturday's victory over Brighton & Hove Albion being their first win at St Andrew's in 10 months.

It was away from home that they excelled last term, and Clark will be hoping for more of that success this weekend, despite losing at Middlesbrough on the opening day.

Seven points from four games would certainly represent a good return for Birmingham, who came within seconds of being relegated to League One on the final day of last season.

Clark appears to have settled on Clayton Donaldson and Wes Thomas as his preferred front two, and the duo are once more expected to lead the line for the Blues on Saturday.

Recent form

Brentford: DDLW

Birmingham: LWWD

Possible starting lineups

Brentford: Button; McCormack, Tarkowski, Craig, Bidwell; Odubajo, Dallas, Douglas, Pritchard, Judge; Proschwitz

Birmingham: Randolph; Spector, Edgar, Hall, Grounds; Cotterill, Caddis, Davis, Novak; Donaldson, Thomas

Sports Mole says: 1-1


ID:172326: cacheID:172326:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:6205:No Data Analysis info

Previews by email

Click here to get Sports Mole's daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!


Restore Data
Share this article now:
Christophe Berra of Ipswich Town celebrates his goal during the Sky Bet Championship match between Birmingham City and Ipswich Town at St Andrews Stadium on August 31, 2013
Read Next:
Berra denies Birmingham at the death
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Leicester CityLeicester432941081394291
2Leeds UnitedLeeds44279880374390
3Ipswich TownIpswich432611685533289
4Southampton43259985562984
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4420121267442372
6Norwich CityNorwich442191477611672
7Hull City431812136254866
8Coventry CityCoventry4217121366521463
9Middlesbrough44189176460463
10Preston North EndPreston44189175661-563
11Cardiff CityCardiff44195205061-1162
12Bristol City441611175147459
13Sunderland44168205251156
14Swansea CitySwansea441511185762-556
15Watford441217155958153
16Millwall441411194355-1253
17Stoke CityStoke441311204460-1650
18Queens Park RangersQPR441311204157-1650
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn441310215874-1649
20Plymouth ArgylePlymouth441212205869-1148
21Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds44138233968-2947
22Birmingham CityBirmingham441210224864-1646
23Huddersfield TownHuddersfield44917184774-2744
RRotherham UnitedRotherham44412283285-5324


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!