Football Bet of the Day: Wednesday’s misery to continue at the hands of Birmingham

The threat of relegation is looming ever larger for Sheffield Wednesday as we approach the tail-end of the season.

Having picked up 23 points from their 30 league matches so far, now they sit second bottom and are eight points from safety. After a bright start, it’s now looking like a difficult task for Danny Rohl at Hillsborough as they host Birmingham City next up. Live on Sky Sports on Friday night (20:00), it is also where our Football Bet of the Day for Friday 9th February comes from.

I simply cannot understand why Sheffield Wednesday are the favourites for this match. They have conceded four goals in each of their last two outings and haven’t won since the 6th January, a run that has now stretched to six matches. If things were looking bright after QPR, Preston and Hull, the grey clouds have now gathered once again above South Yorkshire. 

The brief upturn in form under Rohl was impressive, and I do believe he is a talented coach, but recent injuries have hampered their progress massively. The Owls made nine changes for the 4-1 FA Cup defeat to Coventry on Tuesday night, and on paper they still lack the talent to compete at this level. 

Juan Delgado, Callum Paterson and Dominic Iorfa are all long-term absentees, while Cameron Dawson is also still out. More worryingly,  key forward Josh Windass is now on the treatment table, and it remains to be seen whether Marvin Johnson will be fit to play any part here. 

The 4-0 defeat at Huddersfield saw the Owls concede four goals in eight disastrous second-half minutes. They completely capitulated in a crucial relegation encounter in a defeat that is sure to have dented their confidence. Although nine changes were made, they suffered a similar collapse at Coventry. With the score level at 1-1, they conceded three second half goals in eight minutes to take the tie out of reach. This is now a worrying trend from a defence lacking both composure and quality. 

Meanwhile, Birmingham are slowly turning a corner under Tony Mowbray. They lost to play-off contenders West Bromwich Albion last time out, but the signs have been positive from an attacking point of view. Siriki Dembele remains one of the outstanding wingers in the division, while Alex Pritchard also offers a new dynamic, having joined up with his former manager in January.

With Koji Miyoshi and Jay Stansfield likely to complete the attacking quartet, I believe the away side will have far too much for Sheffield Wednesday. With what we have seen in the last week, I wouldn’t be surprised if another implosion occurs, with several quickfire goals ultimately winning the match for Birmingham. 

I like the look of 11/5 for them to win the match, but we fancy a big price for this Friday night clash - so Birmingham to score over 2.5 goals at 6/1 is our Football Bet of the Day. 

Check out our other Football Bet of the Day picks here.