Birmingham vs Shrewsbury Prediction: Blues to add to the Shrews’ woes

| Friday 28th March 2025, 13:06pm

Friday 28th March 2025, 13:06pm

It feels like it is only a matter of time before it is confirmed that Birmingham City will be playing in the Championship next season. They have smashed League 1 this season and are currently nine points clear of second with two games in hand. The Blues begin the final stretch with a clash against bottom-of-the-table Shrewsbury Town at St Andrew's on Saturday (15:00).

The Shrews lost Gareth Ainsworth to League 2 Gillingham in the week, and it was in his first game that the visitors defeated Birmingham at Croud Meadow. Michael Appleton is the new man in charge and he has a tough task for his first game. Read on for my Birmingham vs Shrewsbury predictions, featuring the latest team news and match odds.

Birmingham vs Shrewsbury Betting Tips

Birmingham to win to nil @ 8/13
Over 2.5 Birmingham goals @ 6/5

Odds correct at the time of publishing

Football Odds

Team News

Lyndon Dykes (calf), Lee Buchanan and Scott Wright (both knee) are long-term absentees for Birmingham, while Ethan Laird has been out of action for the past four matches with a hamstring issue, so expect Alfons Sampsted to continue on the right side of the defence.

There was concern for influential midfielder Paik Seung-ho, who had picked up a knock while on international duty with South Korea. He has since been spotted back on the training pitch back in Birmingham, so he could still feature at the weekend.

If boss Chris Davies doesn't want to risk the player ahead of their trip to Wembley in two weeks for the Vertu Trophy final, Marc Leonard will be itching to start alongside Tomoki Iwata in the engine room.

Jay Stansfield pulled out of England Under-21s duty, so he will need to be assessed ahead of Saturday. Alfie May will be primed to start up top for the hosts if required.

Davies may utilise both wide players Emil Hansson and Keshi Anderson in attack, which would leave Willum Willumsson and Kieran Dowell fighting for the number 10 role.

Birmingham vs Shrewsbury Stats

Birmingham are yet to taste defeat at St Andrew's in League 1
Shrewsbury won the reverse fixture 3-2 back in November

Shrewsbury have no fresh injury concerns for their trip to B9 but Leo Castledine remains out of action with an injury that he picked up in January.

Forward John Marquis is back in contention to play after completing his three-game suspension. With a new man at the helm, all players will be looking to show Appleton why they deserve to play, so it remains to be seen what kind of selection he goes for at the weekend and what system he will utilise.

Given the quality of their opponents, the Shrewsbury boss may go for a five-man defence to try and limit Birmingham's attack.

Birmingham vs Shrewsbury Odds

The bookies are expecting a Birmingham win and rightly so. They are unbeaten at St Andrew's and are coming up against the team rooted to the bottom of the table. The Blues have won their last eight league games at home and they are 1/5 to take the three points here.

Better value can be found by backing them to win to nil at 8/13, which has a 61.9% chance, because six of those eight victories saw them record a clean sheet too.

The hosts were held to a draw in their last appearance against Northampton Town and the stalemate is marketed at 5/1 on this occasion.

The Shrews are 16/1 to stun the prospective champions but they have the worst away form in the division with just two wins from 18 matches this term.

Birmingham forward Stansfield is the second-highest scorer in League 1 with 16 goals and he is the 9/10 favourite to score anytime.

Birmingham to win to nil @ 8/13

Birmingham have won 11 of their 19 home matches to nil this season, which amounts to 58 per cent. They have been resilient when playing at home and in most games they have rarely been troubled defensively.

The Blues have won their previous eight home games in the third tier and in six of them they have managed to shut out their opponents. I can a similar scenario unfolding against Shrewsbury, who are devoid of any confidence right now.

It's telling of their situation that Ainsworth perceived a team in the division below as a more prospective place to be. The Shrews have failed to score in four of their five latest fixtures in League 1, and it is hard to see them causing the best defence in the league any real troubles.

Of course this wasn't the case at Croud Meadow back in November, when Shrewsbury inflicted a second league defeat upon Davies' men. However, they are not in their own backyard on this occasion and as we have seen, they don't travel well.

Not to mention Birmingham have made St Andrew's a fortress this campaign.

Birmingham vs Shrewsbury - To Win to Nil Birmingham

8/13

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Odds correct at time of publishing.

Over 2.5 Birmingham goals @ 6/5

With a sudden managerial change, and seemingly no end in sight to their woes, Shrewsbury could be an easy target for the league leaders on Saturday. As such, I am backing the Blues to score at least three goals against the Shrews.

There have only been six occasions this term in which Birmingham have scored three or more goals in League 1, but I fancy them to take that tally up to seven at the weekend. Shrewsbury's confidence is shot and they have the worst away record in the division.

Additionally, only Crawley Town (71) have conceded more goals than them (62). Much has been said about the quality Birmingham have in attack, and this feels like the kind of game that they can really flaunt their abilities.

Birmingham vs Shrewsbury - Home Team Total Goals Over 2.5

6/5

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Odds correct at time of publishing.

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