Birmingham vs Middlesbrough Prediction: History predicts goals at St. Andrew’s

Middlesbrough seek to end their three-game winless streak in the Championship when they travel to St. Andrew's to play Birmingham City on Monday (20:00 GMT, Sky Sports Main Event). The Blues have lost just one of their last nine league matches but were well-beaten at Millwall last time out.

Read on for my Birmingham vs Middlesbrough predictions, as well as the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Birmingham's Alex Cochrane (ankle) and Paik Seung-ho (shoulder) are out injured. Kai Wagner picked up a shoulder issue of his own at Millwall and is considered a doubt for this contest.

Jhon Solis was sent off in that game and will serve his one-game suspension here.

Recalls are to be expected for Demarai Gray and Marvin Ducksch in attack.

Football Odds

Boro are still missing Leo Castledine, Alfie Jones and Alex Bangura due to injury.

Kim Hellberg may contemplate freshening up his attack after going three matches without a win, so the likes of David Strelec and Jeremy Sarmiento, who Birmingham were linked with in January, may push to start.

Today's Football Fixtures

Birmingham vs Middlesbrough Odds

Birmingham have won five of their past nine league games and they are 6/4 to respond with a win on Monday.

Middlesbrough have experienced consecutive draws coming into this clash, and the stalemate is valued at 12/5. Boro are 13/8 to complete the double over the Blues, whom they defeated 2-1 at the Riverside back in November.

Birmingham's Ducksch has scored five goals in his last nine appearances in the Championship. He is the joint 7/4 favourite to score anytime here.

Both Teams To Score & Total Goals Over/Under 2.5 - Yes & Over @ 1/1

This is a big game for both teams in their own respective quests for promotion. Boro's recent dip has opened the door for both Millwall and Ipswich Town to try and pinch second spot from them.

The Teessiders currently have a four-point gap (as of Friday) but this could be reduced before kick-off on Monday night. Birmingham have been in good form of late and they still have just one defeat at St. Andrew's in the league this campaign.

This game could go in any direction, so I think the safest play in the betting is to go for goals. I like the combination of both teams to score and over 2.5 goals because this has struck in each of Boro's previous four away trips in the Championship. It was also a winning selection when they defeated Birmingham 2-1 on home soil a few months back.

Birmingham have experienced this market land in two of their past four outings in the league, but this has also been a trend in this particular fixture in recent years. At least three goals have been scored and both sides have found the net in four of the last six meetings in B9.

Player To Receive A Card - Luke Ayling @ 9/5

Boro's recent blip has been a knock on effect from some individuals seeing their performances drop. One of them is defender Luke Ayling. It started with a mix-up with goalkeeper Sol Brynn against promotion rivals Coventry City and he was to blame for Leicester City's goal last time out.

The former Leeds defender has also been booked in both of these games, taking his total for the season up to eight. Some supporters feel he should be dropped on Monday but I think Hellberg will stick with him for now.

But there could be more trouble in store for Ayling against Birmingham. He was shown a yellow card when the sides met in November and he is going to be up against some skilful attacking players including Gray, Jay Stansfield and Patrick Roberts.

I believe he is worth backing to collect booking number nine of the campaign with the alluring price of 9/5 (implied probability of 35.7%).

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