clubgowi's seven Saturday selections ......

Sep 26, 2015
football betting tips -

 

A rare opportunity to see all of today's clubgowi newsletter previews which includes two "max stake" 1.75 unit selections.

 

Saturday September 26th

 

There will be three newsletters on Sunday @ 10.00 UK time (early kick offs and golf), 13.00 (later football) and 16.00 (NFL).

 

Japan: J-League
 

Shimizu S-Pulse- Sanfrecce Hiroshima

 
Sanfrecce Hiroshima moved off the top of the clubgowi hit parade with that 0-0 draw at home to Sagan Tosu last week .....

Sanfrecce Hiroshima have served us and themselves very well over the last three rounds, getting firmly back on track after a mini blip and posting three big wins all all by emphatic margins, scoring 10 goals in the process, ahead of the first of those I wrote .....Sanfreece are now three points adrift of Urawa Reds, who have a very win-able home game (see above), at the top of the overall table, after losing back to back home games without scoring. They were 5-0-0 in Stage 2 before that and will have used the free midweek to try and regain focus , I have spoken a lot this season about how motivated they were to win one of the titles this season, after coming up short last year following back to back league championships. Given those recent home flops, we can surely expect Sanfrecce to come out a little defensive and play themselves into the game before pushing on and second half stats for these two imply that would be a good approach. Albirex are 1-4-7 at home after the break, Hiroshima are 6-4-2 on the road, that is 15 points (1.25 per game) more than the hosts have managed, even with home advantage .They are also unbeaten in seven trips to Niigata. Favourite son Hisato Sato is closing in on the all time J-League scoring record for Sanfrecce and he has five away goals versus Albirex, if he could score today, he has the possibility to equal or better the record in front of his own adoring supporters next week.
 

Before a heavy defeat of Nagoya in their last home starts I added ........Urawa also won, so the gap at the top of the overall table is still three, but they are only one point off Kashima Antlers in the Stage 2 standings ( we do not need to go over old ground now, but we will look at the format again towards the end of next month), suffice to say that with those two rivals having very tricky away games today, this is a real opportunity for Hiroshima to close the gap on one, or both.
 

Nagoya are in no mans's land in the overall standing, where they have "no chance" of top 3 or danger of relegation, they have six teams above them in the Stage 2 standings , but are only five adrift of leaders Antlers and with 27 points to play for, they could still put in a charge, but a point is unlikely to help them much and they have little to lose, so surely we will see them go all out for all three and that should suit Sanfrecce. I think Nagoya are improving, but it looks likely that we will now see the fruits of that next season.The hosts won 4-0 when the teams last met in Hiroshima and did the double last season, scoring nine goals in the priocess, but they lost the reverse fixture 2-0 earlier this season and will have a little revenge in mind and if there is to be a victor and there surely will, it seems far more likely to be them. Sato ( see above) has not scored in three, but had three against Nagoya last season and will be desperate to get back on track today.
 

Last week they put three past woeful Montedio Yamagata on the road and now, with results elsewhere in their favour, sit top of Stage 2, two points clear of Kashima Antlers and above Urawa Reds in the overall table, albeit only on goal difference and every win from now on in is going to be vital and every dropped point, especially on home soil, could prove decisive, so, they will be keen to win and exert some pressure on Antlers and Reds, who are both on the road today, although Kashima are actually playing in the early game.
 

Sagan Tosu conceded seven in their last away start when they visited Vissel Kobe and made a clean sheet next time out, at home to Shimizu S-Pulse, a priority, they achieved that but at the expense of their offense and a 0-0 draw with the relegation battlers is not much to write home about and this will be decidedly tougher and I wonder how resilient they will be, if and when they fall behind . I doubt they will be traveling in very confident mood, in addition to poor form and relatively little to play for, they have lost on their last eight trips to Hiroshima, conceding 22 goals and with four of the last five defeats coming by 2+ goals !

Only one team was ever going to win that, but Sanfrecce made bad decision after bad decision when they got close to goal and probably would not have scored if they were still out on the pitch now, we just have to put that down to a bad day at the office. They might be pleased to be back on the road, where they have already won a J-League high ten times. Shimizu's slim chances of survival took a battering with a 4-1 home defeat to Urawa last week , they have won just once in 15 starts and sit 8 +points from survival and a draw is not going to help them much and the visitors should be able to thrive in the extra space they will enjoy today. Uraw felt they should have scored a couple more goals and head coach Mischa that the hosts tired badly and could not match the tempo his team played at for 90 minutes. Given that the hosts have conceded a J-League high 19 home goals after the break , that is probably a good observation and one that Sanfrecce who are averaging over two goals per game on the road and with only Urawa scoring more after the break, can take advantage of.

 

1.75 units Sanfrecce Hiroshima -0.5 ball 1.98 asian line/Sportmarket.

 

FC Tokyo- Matsumoto Yamaga

 

FCT came up short for us last week in Yokohama, conceding a very late winner to Marinos ahead of the match I wrote....

FC Tokyo are back on track in J-League following a bit of a mid season blip after losing star player Yoshinori Muto to FSV Mainz and dealing with a host of injuries. The upsurge in form sees them unbeaten in six, including a noteworthy win over Gamba and coming off three unanswered goals versus Vissel Kobe, courtesy of a Ryoichi Maeda hat trick. That sequence has enabled them to stay in third of the overall table, three points clear of a surging Gamba team, in the hunt for a post season spot. Veteran goalkeeper Vlada Avramov, who recently signed as a free agent, make his debut last week and suddenly from being out of form, short handed and dealing with the loss of their star man, FCT have options and their old swagger is back. Tokyo have almost identical home and away records, actually they have a point more on the road and it is not surprising, as they are ideally set up to play away from the capital, as they like to sit back and try to expose teams on the break. They have certainly done well in Yokohama previously, winning on seven of their last ten visits and with two dropped points at Albirex Niigata last time out,where they couldn't beat ten men, nine for the final couple of minutes, seemingly ending Marinos realistic post season , or Stage 2 ambitions, this looks a decent chance for #8.

 
They played a very patient game there, would probably have taken a point pre match if offered and did not create a great deal, it was perhaps poetic justice that they themselves were caught on the counter after having their big chance on the second half when Maeda could not replicate his heroics of the previous week and his heavy touch right in front of goal allowed Marinos to take possession and quickly turn defence into attack and steal the goal which gave them all three points. They dodged a bullet as Gamba failed to take full advantage on Sunday and FCT come into this round still holding a two point advantage in the race for a top three finish. This is a golden opportunity to at least keep that edge and with a very tough looking trip to Hiroshima next week, it will be three points or nothing today surely and a far more adventurous approach from the home team. They won the reverse fixture 2-1 back in June and beat Yamaga 2-0 here last year in the cup, FCT will have  avery big fitness edge with the visitors having played twice since the home side's trip to Yokohama, they will be without suspended defensive midfielder Hideto Takahashi but have won all three home games he has missed this season and if he had to miss a home start, this is as good as any.
 
Matsumoto played Gamba and now played in the capital just seven days later with back to back games against two of the stronger J-League teams would have been a big ask anyway, but they also hosted fellow strugglers Montedio Yamagat on Wednesday in a match postponed earlier in the season and that not only leaves them running on empty, but surely feeling that the failure to claim all three points leaves them with a mountain to climb to survive. FCT are 6-1-0 at home to bottom eight teams, scoring 2+ in six and 3+ in four, Yamaga are 0-0-6 on the road agaisnt top 8 teams and have scored just a single goal in those games, I favour both trends to continue and will go with...............

1.75 units FC Tokyo -0.75 ball 2.05 asian line/Sportmarket.

 
 
La Liga: Villarreal- Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid disappointed in La Liga ahead of their first Champions League group game, showing far too little ambition against Barcelona after taking the lead, something we spoke of before their trip to Galatasaray earlier this month ......

Atletico were disappointing on Saturday, losing at home to Barcelona after taking the lead early in the second half, they certainly didn't deserve to win and lost because they showed too little ambition offensively after Barce equalised. On reflection, I do not feel that were done any favours by playing that game immediately before their Champions League opener, it was the same for Barcelona of course, but the Catalan giants are european veterans and Atletico are not quite in that league yet. Also, Diego Simeone has spoken a LOT about how they struggled in the premier club competition last season after losing their opening group fixture away to Olympiakos, they had given everything in a 2-1 road win against their cross town rivals Real Madrid just a couple of days before that tie and were a little jaded early in the match in Greece, I think that has played on Simeone's mind since and I feel that influenced their approach to the match at the weekend, which was a bit lacklustre. Anyway, we can expect them to be very committed to the cause today and it would be a bit of  disaster if they "sacrificed" their performance in one and then came up short in the second and with Galatasaray having disappointed in the competition last season, being 0-1-5 at the group stage and having conceded four at home to both Arsenal and a struggling Borussia Dortmund, I feel Atletico can follow suit and win with a degree of comfort.Galatasary have taken just one point from two home starts in games they were expected to win easily and if they are to progress from this group, it is likely to be the ties against Benfica and Astana which will decide their fate, I expect them to play cautiously this evening, but they are ill equipped to do so and I doubt that Atletico will need much prompting to seize the initiative.
 

They won that 2-0 and have taken six points from two league games since by identical scorelines, now they face their second really big domestic test and this ahead of their third ( a visit from real next week) with a CL home tie with Benfica in midweek sandwiched inbetween. Two things about that, the Portugese side look a pale imitation of the team which reached back to back Europa League finals and the pressure for that is lessened, with Atletico having won their opener and secondly, the Madrid derby is going to mean far less in title terms if Simeone's troops do not win tonight and the coach has spoken about that this week in build up. Atletico are unbeaten in three visits to El Madrigal, winning twice along with clean sheets.
 
The hosts have started very strongly and would open up a four point lead over the visitors should they win this evening, but this is their first start against a "top six" team and they come into this very short handed up top with Cedric Bakambu, and Adrian Lopez missing , that leaves just Roberto Soldado and Leo Baptistao as options, the former is nursing a knock and the latter has scored just once in 2015. Atletico are without Koke and he has been considered a huge loss in the past, but with Atletico continually strengthening they have now won five of the last six matches he has missed and the visitors look in better shape than Villa this evening and I have to take them at odds 20+ "clicks" bigger than I made them.

 

1.5 units Atletico Madrid -0.25 ball 2.40 asian line/Sportmarket.

 

 
Premier League:

 

Newcastle United- Chelsea

 

I do not know what to make of United after last week's performance, they were 2-0 down and effectively out of the game at home to Watford and I spoke at the time about how vital that match was with some very difficult fixtures on the near horizon .....
 
We have not discussed United much this season, but ahead of their league opener with Southampton I wrote ....United have invested heaving in the summer with new boss Steve McClaren signing Chancel Mbemba, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Georgino Wijnaldum, names which will roll off Geordie tongues (!) signed for circa 50m €. The former England coach will be desperate to hit the ground running and erase all thoughts of that disasterous finish to last season, which saw the Magpies collect just 10 points from 18 starts in 2015, before a final day win over West Ham United which confirmed their safety. That was scary and not just the results , but the level of performance, which was simply unacceptable. Big job for McClaren, but he is up to the task and I expect an upbeat showing from the Magpies today, however, whether that will be enough to beat the Saints is open to question and the visitors have scored ten goals in the last three meetings and 15 in the last six. Feel that we will see both on the scoresheet today , which has been the case in the last three meetings here in the North East.
 

That finished 2-2 and it was performance full of promise for long suffering (try suppporting a L1/l2 team for a few decades !) Geordies after what they had witnessed last season, they have not been able to build on that, but a point at Old Trafford and a second half showing at Upton Park last week have given reason to feel that first win was on it's way, we can forgive them the home loss to Arsenal, but failure to win today is likely to signal the end of the period of grace for McClaren and his new signings and I would call this a pivotal game in United's season and the boss has spoken about it in similar terms since the defeat on Monday. They are without suspended Aleksandar Mitrovic again today and have a couple of injuries and yes, they are trying to build a new team, but we are now six games in and from today, these are only going to be seen as excuses and now they need three points. Watford and their style of football will not be quite the surprise to McClaren it is to other EPL teams, he faced them twice last season when in charge at Derby County ( four points and four goals) ,with the visitors missing suspended holding midfielder Valon Behrami and centre back Miguel Britos, their defensive spine options are lessened and with the Hornets a team who have also struggled for goals ( just one in five ) since opening day, this is as good an opportunity as it is going to get for the Magpies, with Chelsea and Manchester City up next .
 

They had the chance to get some momentum back with a visit from Championship side Sheffield United in midweek and whilst I appreciate that it is all about survival for the Magpies ,they really needed a win, just to give the club/splayers and supporters a lift, but they lost that too and the boos have been ringing out at St James' Park. Their play has been a little one dimensional with a huge number of crosses in the box ( 40 versus Watford) and few finding their intended target , circa 10%. Boss Steven McClaren has spoken about a club in crisis this week and that his players lack belief, his team have won just three times in 2015 and the head coach just 3 in 21 overseeing a poor end of the season at Derby County and they are both short of confidence and why winning one of the previous two games was essential.
 
Chelsea could afford to field a B team and score four at Walsall in midweek and are starting to build a little momentum, something we spoke about ahead of the win over the League 1 team .....

Chelsea are back on track after the wins and clean sheets against Maccabi Tel aviv and Arsenal and with Manchester City losing at home to West Ham at the weekend, the gap to the leaders is now "just" eight points and a lot more do-able over 32 remaining fixtures and now that they have a couple of victories, the Blues will surely want to keep the momentum up and be targetting a comfortable win tonight ahead of a trip to Newcastle at the weekend. Chelsea are holders of the Capital One Cup, so will want to do well again and also be mindful of the loss in the FA Cup to Bradford City last season and the "humiliation" that followed. Not only that, but their league form took a little dip afterwards and a few weeks later they were out of the Champions League and even these seemingly minor games can have a knock on effect and in the bigger scheme of things, I think tonight is an important fixture for Chelsea and they need to get a run going if they are to mount a serious domestic title challenge. It is 26 years since Chelsea lost in this competition to a team from a lower division and I expect that trend to continue, we will see plenty of rotation from the visitors , but Jose Mourinho doesn't want another inquisition after the game and whilst we seem sure to see a few "kids" in the line up, they would walk into any top level Championship team, let alone L1 side if offered on loan and players like Terry, Falcao, Remy, Ramires and Mikel alongside them will be looking to push for a EPL starting place and there are bound to be one or two big options on the bench "just in case". Any tense moments are likely to come early, but eventually, a fairly comfortable away win.
 

They are without Diego Costa today, but Chelsea are unbeaten in his absence ( 8-4-0) and really need to win this to continue their long climb up the table, by kick off, two or three of the other big 4 are likely to have posted wins and it will be virtually game over in terms of the title and before the end of September for the West london side, if they do not do likewise.

 

1.5 units Chelsea -1 ball 2.19 asian line/Sportmarket.

 

Leicester City- Arsenal

 

Leicester City have been hugely impressive offensively this season , are unbeaten after six starts and no team has scored more goals, but they have conceded nine, which is on a par with three of the bottom four and there is only so often you can give up 1.5 goals per game and get a result. They were 2-0 down at Stoke City last week and two down at home to Aston Villa before that with 18 minutes to play, ahead of that match I wrote ....
 
City have been proving fun to watch, they have yet to keep a cleansheet, or taste defeat, scoring 12 goals themselves , Villa are struggling defensively conceding 11 in their last four EPL away starts, that includes a 1-0 win at Bournemouth, where they should have conceded at least twice, they also shipped three at home to League 2 Notts County in the Capital One Cup and two at Villa Park to Sunderland and Tim Sherwood has a big ask sorting out his backline. He is a very offensive minded coach anyway and always wants to play on the front foot, it was always going to be tough to replace Christian Benteke, but his team have been creating chances and have a big aerial threat especially through Rudi Gestede and the crosses of left-back Jordan Amavi and the same is also true of the Foxes who have scored a EPL high three headed goals and Villa showed a weak spot in defending crosses/corners versus Crystal Palace. We can surely look for both to be getting the ball into the box at every opportunity and as quickly as possible and neither team looks likely to keep a clean sheet.
 

I can actually see improvement in Villa and when Amavi and Leandro Bacuna do not go quite so gung-ho on the flanks , or get protection they will look more solid and Sherwood is looking to address this with a change in formation ( but been unable to work on it over the break, with key players away on international duty) and whilst I see the visitors having more than a 20% (5.0) chance of winning this, they are another team who will probably be stronger in 3-4 weeks time. For today, I suspect they will need to score at least once and probably twice to get something out of this .

 
Prior to those two games, City were behind at Bournemouth with 4 to play and to Tottenham with 9 minutes left, well, you get the picture ! Very resilient and tough to put down, you need the stake through the heart and to nail the coffin down to make sure they are out of the game, but they will give you chances and this is the first Big 4 team that the Foxes have faced and four of their six opponents to date are currently bottom 7 and this will be a real test. Arsenal have a vital Champions League game in midweek, but simply cannot afford to let this game slide after losing to Chelsea last week and being desperate to get into the title race, they will take heart from the North London derby win over Spurs in midweek and I favour them to win this. The Gunners have been creating plenty, but misfiring infront of goal with the worst conversion rate in the EPL and star player Alexis Sanchez has been the main culprit with a league high 31 missed attempts. However, I prefer to think of it as the floodgates being about to open, as you do not keep quality like the Chilean Copa America winner out of the limelight for too long. The visitors have won 19 of the last 20 starts in which they have taken the lead and if City are as free and easy with their ways today, this can only end with an away win and if the hosts have to gamble, it could be an emphatic victory.

 

1.5 units Arsenal -1 ball 2.38 asian line/Sportmarket.
 
Championship:

 

Birmingham City- Rotherham United

 

Ipswich Town- Bristol City

 

Best teams do not always win, but it helps and I can tell you 100% that Birmingham City are superior to Rotherham and I would be surprised if there were not a 20+ point gap between the two come the end of the season.
 
I have already seen the other two live this season and Town are a much better organised/coached outfit, with City really struggling to see out 90 minutes at this level and I do not feel either home side should be quoted at 2.0 + today.
 
I previewed the City- City meeting in Birmingham two weeks ago and those notes look the perfect place to start, they are reproduced below in full, I think there is a LOT of good information in that single preview and it is definitely worth a read, for the first or even second time.
 
Birmingham won that 4-2 and have subsequently lost narrowly at home to Forest and taken a point at Ipswich , also losing at Aston Villa in a huge "second city" derby in midweek, which the Blues dominated for 45 minutes. There were positives to take from all three results and few negatives ( you cannot win every game especially in the Championship, which is a hugely competitive division) and now it feels time for a return to winning ways. I do not like the way that United are run, or the coaching " philosophy " of boss Steve Evans who could start up an argument in an empty room and probably a fight too ! He has a revolving door policy of signing players and it is all a bit too hit and miss IMO, I think that the Millers were fortunate that the bottom three in the Championship last season were so poor, they were the only clubs below United in the table and the four immediately above them were superior teams and they might not be so lucky this time round. I spoke several times last season about them being shambolic defensively and those issues do not look to have been address with United giving a Championship high 2.12 goals per game this time round. City did the double over them last season with Clayton Donalson ( see below) scoring in both and I expect him to get the "hat-trick" and for City to record a fairly comfortable win.

 

1.5 units Birmingham City -0.5 ball 2.06 asian line/Sportmarket.
 
 
I don't have too much to add to my thoughts on Bristol City ( see below), they need to strengthen and look disorganised at times and any established Championship team is going to view them as lambs to the slaughter, the Robins have conceded in eight of their nine competitive starts ( how they kept that clean sheet away to Boro will have to remain one of life's great mysteries !) and given up two or more in seven of those. They have a little ability going forward, but are only playing to this level in 20-30 minute spells and I would suggest they need a few leaders on the pitch and they are not easy to find and I have my doubts about Steve Cotterill as a coach at this level and his body language and demeanour on the sidelines is hardly a steadying influence. Town are a good benchmark for the Championship, if I had to pick one team to finish 5th-10th in the division it would be them, probably not quite good enough for an automatic spot, but almost certain to be around the playoffs and to play to their level most weeks. There are a long way ahead of City and if both play similarly to when I saw them, this can only end one way and Town are definitely an odds on chance to take all thee points in my book.

 

1.5 units Ipswich Town -0.5 ball 2.07 asian line/Sportmarket.
 
 

Good Luck.

 

Championship: Birmingham City- Bristol City (written 14/09)
 

I think that Birmingham have been underestimated this season and I outlined the reasons and how highly I regard boss Gary Rowett ahead of their 2-0 win at MK Dons immediately before the international break .....
 

I am quite keen on this City team, I saw them late last season at home to Brentford, the Bees were awful that day, but the Blues were very well organised and despite the financial mess at the club, boss Gary Rowett has been able to address a few areas in which he felt they were lacking, he has also, at least so far, been able to keep prize asset 19 yo Demarai Gray. The youngster actually signed a contract extension in July and considering City has previously turned down a £5m offer for him, he is going to be very expensive to buy and the lad seems committed to the club, but agents have no loyalty !
 
Just to highlight the problems that Rowett has had, ahead of the match before they met the Bees I wrote .....City have improved greatly under Gary Rowett, but off the pitch, old problems have resurfaced and the parent company which own the club have gone into receivership. They can say what they want, that it will "not have any effect on the players and will actually be good for the team long term", but in reality, that is not how things tend to play out and we have seen at Brentford over the last 7-8 days how much things outside their control, can influence the on field performance of players. Footballers have a lot of spare time on their hands and gossip wise are like old women ( no disrespect to old women !) and it will have been the main topic of conversation on the training ground this week. On a more positive note, they did sign Rob Kiernan on loan from Wigan and he will go straight into the squad, he was with Rowett on loan at Burton Albion in L2 and is decent enough at lower level, but would never come close to even being considered at any of the top 8 in the Championship, let alone signed, which I only mention to indicate how tight the purse strings are at City.
 
With no money and the mood at the club all doom and gloom, Rowett did his already promising CV no harm at all, by taking City up to 10th with 63 points, 35 of which were earned in the second half of the campaign, tightening up a previously porous defence considerably. They are unbeaten through five competitive games this season, Jon Toral has been signed on a long loan from Arsenal and has immediately impressed, he was on a season long similar deal at Brentford last season, but with midfield competion rife there , could not command a regular starting place, but he will thrive with game time ( and already has) and he has an eye for a killer pass.  Last year's top scorer Clayton Donaldson has yet to find the back of the net this time round, but works harder than any forward in England and they will come soon enough. Newly promoted Dons scored four at Rotherham on opening day, but I have my doubts about them at present in terms of goals, they lost 20 goal top scorer Will Grigg and hugely influential 16 goal Dele Alli in the summer and with them, a lot of their offensive threat. I just do not see where the ten goal, let alone 15-20 goal Championship level striker is in this squad, maybe they will sign one, but IMO, he is not on the books right now. They play nice football and are comfortable on the ball, but goals will be hard to come , the four against the Millers papered over the cracks, just one in three starts against Preston, Reading and Bolton who are not the best teams they will face this season by any stretch of the imagination, give a better indication of the problems they face. At the other end of the pitch, David Martin has so far made the most saves in the Championship and  and is keeping his team in games, but that can only go on so long. Brummiies and the start for me.
 

Clayton D is a terrific bloke , a really nice guy and one of my favourite Brentford players of the last decade, he is a Dons killer and scored against them in all three seasons with the mighty Bees, five in total and 3.0-3.30 in the anytime goalscorer market today is big. In the last four years CD has only once gone more than six league games ( he is "never" injured or unavailable) without scoring and that was a seven game spell, he is up to five without a goal now and overdue.
 

I was very pleased with my notes that day Donaldson did not score but he has assisted for 4 of their last 6 and to be honest, coming up short against MKD only makes him more likely to notch one today and it is not like he is playing badly, far from it. The Blues found the money to sign Shane Lowry after he impressed in a pre season trial and I know that Rowett was very keen to get that business done.
 
Bristol City did not make the marquee signings they were quite looking for in the transfer window, but did add a couple of players, one of which I am singularly unimpressed with, I have no desire to bad mouth a young player, so will leave it at that, but I think it was a bit of a panic signing, ahead of their home game with Leeds United I wrote ..... I saw the Robins on Saturday, in their 4-2 home defeat to Brentford, City were 2-1 up and had missed good chances to extend that lead, before the match turned on the sending off of Luke Freeman. From that moment on (35th minute), it was all Bees and the away win never looked in doubt. Brentford are very confident with their passing game and the wide open spaces of Ashton Gate (which looks bigger as there are only three sides to the stadium at present) played to their strengths, which meant that for much of the next hour + , City had to work incredibly hard and at times where chasing shadows and the quick turnaround when many players are still coming to terms with life at the higher level, is a big ask on the back of that.


They will be without Freeman tonight, he played in central midfield, right at the heart of what was a 3-5-2 and the catalyst of so much of what they did offensively, he was on Saturday (after his departure) and will be today, a very big loss, Freeman was ever present last season, contributing seven goals and 18 assists and for many, was the stand out performer in League 1. City know they are a couple of players short of being competitive in the Championship and made what looked like a bit of a panic bid yesterday of £9m for Andre Gray of the Bees, they have a wealthy owner, but in terms of FFP, this is a signing they cannot really afford (as I type it has still not been completed). Anyway, we will discuss Gray in the future, for now, suffice to say that City are still coming to grips with life at this level, need to strengthen and are without perhaps their best player today. United have won the last six h2h meetings with City ,have scored eight (two or more in each) in their last three visits to Bristol and look good for at least a point and I don't feel that the hosts would be too disappointed with that. We are at a very early stage of the season, but almost 52% of games in the Championship have ended all square, many teams look evenly matched and there is a lot of jostling for position, especially in the transfer market and for now, games in general might continue to be hard to win.
 

They were 2-0 down late there but salvaged a draw and then posted a road win at Middlesbrough, but that was down to the Championship's own Mr Tinkerman Aitor Karanka who has so far refused to learn from last season and too often is rotating just for the sake of it . City were back down to earth with a 2-1 home loss to Burnley and the match at Boro aside, City have struggled to put together more than 30 minutes in any one game and are finding the transition to Championship life tough and boss Steve Cotterill is hardly a calming influence on the sidelines in that respect, if it came down to him versus Rowett, it is a mismatch. The visitors do get Luke Freeman ( see above) back today which will help, but I am keen on the hosts.

1.5 units Birmingham City -0.25 ball 2.09 asian line/Sportmarket.

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