Birmingham City vs Northampton Town Prediction: Blues to rack up a few more goals

Birmingham City's last League 1 fixture before the international break comes against Northampton Town at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on Saturday (15:00). The Blues' clash with Stevenage next weekend has been postponed due to international call-ups, so they will want to head into the break in style.

They have won two cup matches since drawing with Mansfield Town in their last league encounter, so they will be hoping to keep their winning streak going against the Cobblers. Northampton have won just two of their last five in the third tier, and they were knocked out of the FA Cup by non-league Kettering Town at the weekend. Read on for my Birmingham City vs Northampton Town prediction, featuring match odds and team news.

Birmingham City vs Northampton Town Odds

Birmingham are 1/5, or an 83.3% chance to win this match. Northampton are 10/1 to pull off an upset, giving them an implied probability of 9.1%. The draw is valued at 9/2 (18.2%).

Over 2.5 goals is marketed at 8/15 and both teams to score can be backed at 11/10.

Birmingham striker Alfie May has scored five goals in the league this season, and he is the 19/20 favourite to score anytime on Saturday. His teammates Jay Stansfield and Willum Thor Willumsson have four apiece, and they are priced at 13/10 and 15/8 respectively to find the back of the net at any stage during this match.

Northampton's Cameron McGeehan has also scored four league goals this term, and he is 7/1 to score anytime on Saturday.

Football Odds

Team News

Birmingham are missing wingers Scott Wright and Emil Hansson due to injury, with manager Chris Davies saying we will not see them back in action until after the international break.

Defender Lee Buchanan is back in light training but Davies is taking extra precautions with the left-back given the constant injury setbacks he has had this season. It looks like he will be given time to ease back into the swing of things, and we probably won't see him return to the squad for another couple of weeks.

Krystian Bielik was reportedly in contention to feature in the FA Cup win over Sutton United at the weekend, so we could see him make his first appearance in a month against the Cobblers. Although, Ben Davies has been performing well in his absence, so the boss could opt to keep the Rangers loanee next to Christoph Klarer at the weekend.

After deputising brilliantly at right-back for several weeks, Taylor Gardner-Hickman has been replaced by Ethan Laird, who is likely to keep his place for the third successive league match. Gardner-Hickman is already down the pecking order in midfield because of the form of Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho, but both he and Marc Leonard will be primed to play if needed.

Stansfield should continue up front as he looks to improve his goal tally in the league, and he will likely be supported by Keshi Anderson, Willumsson and Fulham loanee Luke Harris.

Northampton will be unable to utilise attacker Tyler Roberts on Saturday as he is ineligible to feature against his parent club. Jon Brady could decide to promote Martyn Waghorn to the starting XI in his place, with the player having recently joined on a short-term contract.

Over 2.5 Birmingham City goals @ 11/10

After seeing Wycombe Wanderers move ahead of them (on goal difference) to the summit on Tuesday with a statement 5-0 win at Stockport County, it feels like Blues need to respond, especially in terms of goals, because there is some concern that they are not making the most of their chances they create.

A dominant first half at Mansfield was wasted by not putting the game to bed, and as we know the Stags were the better attacking side in the second 45. We got to see them show a ruthless streak with their 7-1 demolition of Fulham Under-21s in the EFL Trophy last week.

Fans are wanting to see such a display against senior opposition now, though, and they feel like this home game offers a great chance for them to do that. Northampton have already seen four goals go past them against both Bolton Wanderers and Wrexham this season, two sides also hoping to achieve promotion this year.

We are yet to see Blues score more than three goals in a game this season in the league, but they have managed three on four occasions, so I feel as though this threshold is safer for backing this weekend.

Blues know they can restore their three-point cushion at the top with a win, and they will want to do it in style on home soil.

Willum Willumsson anytime goalscorer @ 15/8

One player I fancy to get on the scoresheet in this clash is Birmingham's Icelandic star Willumsson. The towering attacking midfielder has just been shortlisted for the League 1 Player of the Month for October, after contributing two goals and an assist in five matches.

The Iceland international has 11 goal involvements in all competitions as he is proving to be one of the club's best pieces of business of the summer. His frame flatters to deceive as he is a brilliant technician.

Willumsson has already demonstrated incredible passes, fine dribbling, but it is his intelligence is what is most exciting. He knows where to be and can sense players around him, as seen by his beautiful assist for Anderson against Lincoln City.

He notched his fifth goal of the campaign at Sutton last weekend. It wasn't his best in a Blue shirt but it doesn't matter. Interestingly, only one of his goals have come at St Andrew's this term, which came in the comeback victory against Peterborough United in September.

I think he's overdue a goal on home soil, and I think he is on course to to record a high number of goals and assists this year, so I'm confident there is more to come in B9.

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