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Wolves to give Birmingham the Blues in derby clash

Wolves to give Birmingham the Blues in derby clash

On Friday night Wolves host out-of-form neighbours Birmingham at Molineux in a big Midlands derby clash in the Championship.

Much of the talk about this game has surrounded the future of Birmingham boss Gianfranco Zola, who has won just one of his 14 games since replacing Gary Rowett in December. The Italian is a Premier League legend from his playing days, but his managerial record is poor.

The last thing that the Blues need is a derby match at one of their local rivals, although in truth Wolves have also been struggling for form of late, losing their last four games in all competitions and failing to score in three of those games.

Paul Lambert’s side are currently 19th place in the Championship table, just five points clear of the relegation zone. They could, however, be just two points behind their opponents with a win in this crucial clash.

Wolves home form has been poor of late, as they have suffered three defeats from their last four home outings in the Championship. Their last three home outings in the Championship have produced under 2.5 goals.

Birmingham head to Molineux on the back of three straight defeats in the Championship and five defeats in their last six games in the second tier.

The team’s poor run of form and in particular a 4-1 home defeat at the hands of QPR last time out has fans questioning whether Zola can turn the situation around. The Blues are 14th in the table and ten points clear of the relegation zone.

However, they cannot afford their current run of results to carry on or they could be dragged into the relegation battle this season.

Forebet predicts that Zola and his team will endure another disappointing day at the office and suffer defeat in this local skirmish.

Championship Regular Season
OVERALL TABLE PTS GP W D L +/-
1
Leicester City 94 44 30 4 10 47
2
Leeds United 90 44 27 9 8 43
3
Ipswich Town 89 43 26 11 6 32
4
Southampton 84 44 25 9 10 24
5
West Bromwich 72 44 20 12 12 23
6
Norwich City 72 44 21 9 14 16
7
Hull City 69 44 19 12 13 9
8
Coventry City 63 43 17 12 14 13
9
Middlesbrough 63 44 18 9 17 4
10
Preston North End 63 44 18 9 17 -5
11
Cardiff City 62 44 19 5 20 -11
12
Bristol City 59 44 16 11 17 4
13
Sunderland 56 44 16 8 20 1
14
Swansea City 56 44 15 11 18 -5
15
Watford 53 44 12 17 15 1
16
Millwall 53 44 14 11 19 -12
17
Stoke City 50 44 13 11 20 -16
18
QPR 50 44 13 11 20 -16
19
Blackburn Rovers 49 44 13 10 21 -16
20
Plymouth Argyle 48 44 12 12 20 -11
21
Sheffield Wednesday 47 44 13 8 23 -29
22
Birmingham City 46 44 12 10 22 -16
23
Huddersfield 44 44 9 17 18 -27
24
Rotherham 24 44 4 12 28 -53

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