With a title at stake in League One, Birmingham City will want to avoid complacency when they host Stevenage at St Andrew’s on Tuesday.
Birmingham have 79 points and lead second-placed Wycombe Wanderers by 11 points while boasting the advantage of a game in hand, whereas 12th-placed Stevenage trail their hosts by 31 points and drew 1-1 with Mansfield Town on Saturday.
Match preview
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The league leaders beat Lincoln City 1-0 on March 8 thanks to Kieran Dowell‘s 71st-minute penalty, though the scoreline was not a fair reflection of their dominance considering they generated four big chances while preventing Lincoln from creating any of their own.
Birmingham have now kept six clean sheets in their eight most recent fixtures, while also preventing heir opponents from scoring in 15 of their last 20 League One games.
Boss Chris Davies might be slightly concerned that his team have only scored five goals in five matches, but it is difficult to be too critical considering their tally of 56 goals in the third tier makes them the division’s third best offensive team.
The Blues come into Tuesday’s clash in outstanding form, with the club emerging victorious in seven of their past nine in the league, losing just once in that time.
Birmingham are also undefeated in their last 25 at St Andrew’s, winning 20 of those matches at home.
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As for Stevenage, they will feel disappointed that they did not take all three points against Mansfield Town considering they only faced 0.7 xG, and yet they conceded the only shot on target that Mansfield managed to produce inside their box.
It should be noted that the visitors have not scored more than one goal in any of their past nine games in all competitions, and have only found the back of the net six times in that period.
Alex Revell‘s side will play Birmingham two times in their next three fixtures, and the clubs’ only previous meeting saw Tuesday’s hosts beat his team 1-0 on February 4 in the EFL Trophy.
Though the Boro have won two, drawn one and lost just one of their past four outings, they failed to win any of their prior five, losing four of those games.
However, Stevenage’s away form is strong given their have triumphed in five of their last seven on the road – succumbing to defeat twice – and have only lost two of their last 11 away from home.
Team News
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Birmingham centre-back Christoph Klarer must avoid picking up a yellow card on Tuesday as otherwise he will be banned for two games, but he will almost certainly start alongside Ben Davies.
Tomoki Iwata and Seung-Ho Paik both featured in a double pivot against Lincoln City, and they can be expected to partner each other against Stevenage.
In the forward line, Jay Stansfield could be supported by attackers Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Kieran Dowell and Emil Hansson.
Meanwhile, the visitors are likely to field Dan Sweeney and Carl Piergianni in the heart of defence behind Louis Thompson and Daniel Phillips.
Winger Jamie Reid scored last time out, and perhaps Jordan Roberts will join him in wide roles either side of striker Brandon Hanlan.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Bielik, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Iwata, Paik; Gardner-Hickman, Dowell, Hansson; Stansfield
Stevenage possible starting lineup:
Mahoney; Freeman, Sweeney, Piergianni, Butler; Thompson, Phillips; Roberts, Kemp, Reid; Hanlan
We say: Birmingham City 2-0 Stevenage
League-leaders Birmingham will be keen to wrap up the title as soon as possible, and they are unlikely to take Tuesday’s game lightly.
Stevenage will find it difficult to break down their hosts’ excellent defence considering their struggles in the final third, and it is hard to see them avoiding defeat at St Andrew’s.
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