Stoke vs Birmingham Prediction & Betting Tips (20 January)

Stoke have been cooking with gas on their own patch of late, winning eight and drawing one of their previous nine top-flight fixtures, not to mention outscoring their opponents by 15 goals to two along the way. Birmingham, on the other hand, have found the going tough on the road of late, losing four of their last five trips, including one at this venue.

With 15 of the previous 21 Stoke matches at the venue in the Championship serving up no more than a couple of goals. This has also been the case in ten of the most recent 15 top-flight fixtures featuring Birmingham, meaning that more of the same is expected when the two sides meet.

It has been quite an unusual experience to see Stoke both score and concede during the same 91 minutes in a Championship fixture recently, with this happening just three times out of a possible 11. Given that only six of the previous 21 top-flight games involving Birmingham have produced goals at both ends, at least one of the two keepers should pitch a shutout here.