Birmingham vs Watford Prediction: Ducksch the answer?

Birmingham City host Watford at St Andrew’s on Monday night (20:00, Sky Sports Main Event), looking to continue their drive up the Championship table. With the table wide open, aside from league leaders Coventry, promotion is certainly still a possibility for the Blues.

Below you will find my Birmingham vs Watford predictions featuring team news and bettings tips.

Team News

Birmingham are going to be without stand-in right-back Tomoki Iwata as he is suspended having picked up five yellow cards this season. That means Bright Osayi-Samuel is likely to return as a more natural replacement in that area, to play alongside Phil Neumann, Christoph Klarer and Alex Cochrane. 

Up top Marvin Ducksch should continue to lead the line, supported by Jay Stasfield, with Demarai Gray and Patrick Roberts likely to play out wide. Chris Davies is still without Ethan Laird (hamstring) and Lee Buchanen (knee), while Willum Willumsson has had a setback in his recovery. 

Watford welcomed back star man Giorgi Chakvetadze as he came off the bench in midweek, and the Georgian is set to feature on the bench again. Javi Gracia remains without Rocco Vata and Kwadwo Baah but the manager has no fresh injury concerns, with Imran Louza set to captain the side in midfield. 

Football Odds

Today's Football Fixtures

Birmingham vs Watford Odds

Birmingham are priced at 8/11 to win this game, while Watford are 4/1. That gives the home side an implied win probability of 58%, with a draw up at 5/2.

Over 2.5 goals is 8/11, BTTS is 10/11 and Stansfield is the favourite to score first at 4/1.

Birmingham to win and BTTS @ 3/1

It feels as though Birmingham have turned a corner in recent weeks. 10 points from their last five games has taken them to 11th in the table, but they are only six points behind third-placed Millwall, with this game in hand still to come. 

Both teams have scored in the last three Birmingham outings, while that has also come in during six of the last seven Watford matches. It means we should get goals with plenty of attacking talent on show, but I will back the home side to edge it, given their strong home record. 

Five wins, two draws and just one defeat so far on home soil, and if they win on Monday, Blues will have joint-second best home record in the Championship.

Marvin Ducksch to score anytime @ 6/4

Ducksch’s return to the side has been fairly transformative for Birmingham, and they’ve been searching for that perfect quartet in the final third. Lyndon Dykes wasn’t quite the right fit for Stansfield and while Kyogo Furuhashi has a huge amount of talent, he hasn’t been able to lead the line in the correct manner this season - with no goals to his name. 

Ducksch has managed to provide a physical target and he’s now scored three goals in his last two games, having started the last five. Stanno enjoys playing alongside him, but I think the best value comes from backing the German to continue his goalscoring form. 

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