English Premier League: Blackpool vs Birmingham City - Preview
It will be the first time in around two months that Blackpool will be able to play a fixture on home turf. The Tangerines have not played on Bloomfield Road since the 20th of November 2010 and they will be pleased to be hosting Birmingham City
on the 4th of January in this midweek Premier League fixture.
The Seasiders have not suffered at the hands of the terrible weather conditions which have forced many Premier League fixtures to be postponed; instead they have readily faced their away games and have managed to walk away from their matches with seven points
out of the maximum twelve. Their away from home results have proved that Blackpool now stand in the third position in the Premier League regarding all the teams’ away forms this season. Blackpool are in the bottom half of the table, but on the eleventh spot
with two games in hand compared to Newcastle United who sit on the 10th spot with the exact number of points (twenty five). Birmingham, on the contrary, are in a very difficult position, wallowing in the relegation zone. The Blues have had a far
from satisfactory season but reached the all time low when they suffered defeat at the hands of Arsenal- a loss they have paid dearly for as the position they are in currently, is the lowest they have ever sunk in this Premier League season so far.
The Blues managed to secure a win against Blackpool, but that was at St. Andrews' Park in October last year. Birmingham badly need a win to lift themselves out of relegation trouble and three points could see them sailing all the way to the fourteenth position
in the league table. Alex McLeish’s team face an overwhelming task at Bloomfield Road, as they have not managed to secure even a single win away from their home turf in this season’s campaign.
McLeish’s men’s win over Blackpool earlier in the Premier League campaign at St. Andrews' brought the halt to a run of three Blues’ losses against the Seasiders. However, the situation looks dismal for Birmingham who have not managed to walk away with a
win against Ian Holloway’s side at Bloomfield Road since 1960, which means Blackpool have remained undefeated in eleven Premier League matches when the Blues have gone visiting.
The best chance for Holloway’s side's winning are when one of the Blackpool players scores the opening goal- statistics for this season show that when a Seasider scores first, Blackpool never lose (they have gone on to win seven and draw two of those fixtures).
DJ Campbell will have to improve on his home form, as all his league goals this season (five in total) have been scored away from Bloomfield Road. McLeish’s men have yet to secure a win away from home and have secured only a single win from ten of their previous
league fixtures, they have gone on to draw six and lose three matches out of the remaining games. The Blues are the team with the highest number of draws this season, totalling at ten.
There are no new names on Birmingham City's injury list. http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/James-McFadden-c17705 is still reported to not have reached full fitness and the striker is speculated to make his return in March instead of remaining sidelined for the rest of the season, due to an injured
knee. Ian Holloway’s injury worries include http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Elliot-Grandin-c12333 who has a hamstring injury and missed the previous match against Manchester City, being unable to recover in time and the player also looks doubtful for the match at home.
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