Mansfield vs Birmingham Prediction: Stansfield to do what he does best

Mansfield Town welcome Birmingham City to the One Call Stadium on Saturday (12:30, Sky Sports+), hoping to reduce the gap between themselves and the league leaders. The Stags have enjoyed a strong start to the campaign following promotion from League 2, winning seven of their 11 opening matches.

Blues have won nine themselves as they start to pull away at the summit. They are four points clear of Wrexham in second, who were also promoted over the summer, boasting a game in hand on the Red Dragons. Below you will find my Mansfield vs Birmingham prediction, including the latest match odds and team news.

Mansfield vs Birmingham Odds

Mansfield are 7/2 to sting the league leaders and win this clash, giving them an implied probability of 22.2%. Birmingham are valued at 8/11 to take the three points, which gives them a theoretical chance of 57.9%. The draw is available at 3/1 (25%).

Both teams to score can be backed at 4/6 and over 2.5 goals is on offer at the same odds.

Alfie May has scored five goals in League 1 for Birmingham this season and he is 11/8 to score anytime on Saturday. His teammate Jay Stansfield has four for himself and you can get him at 15/8 to find the back of the net at any point during this contest.

Willum Willumsson, Keshi Anderson and Tomoki Iwata have all scored three goals for the Blues in League 1, and they are 11/4, 100/30 and 8/1 respectively to score anytime.

Mansfield striker Lee Gregory has produced six goals for his side in the third tier, and he is marketed at 3/1 to score anytime in this match.

Football Odds

Team News

The Stags have no fresh injury concerns heading into the weekend. Boss Nigel Clough could op to freshen up a few areas in his side for the visit of Birmingham because of the amount of running they will need to do in a bid to stop the Blues from dictating the tempo.

We could see Hiram Boateng and Lee Gregory return to the starting lineup as a result if Clough wants fresh legs in attack to help lead the press.

For Birmingham, they remain without the services of captain Krystian Bielik and Lee Buchanan due to injury. Attacker Scott Wright is also unlikely to feature having missed the last two matches with a problem.

Emil Hansson looks to be the latest member in the treatment room after he was subbed off in the first half in the win against Bolton Wanderers on Tuesday. This led to Marc Leonard gaining some valuable minutes on the pitch, and he could be drafted in as the Swede's replacement on Saturday.

Luke Harris is back in contention after his own spell on the sidelines, so it is likely going to be a while before he is back in contention to start a league game for Birmingham.

Young winger Ayumu Yokoyama will also be pushing to start in Hansson's place as he is yet to start a league match for the Blues. The Japanese star is still adjusting to England, however, and the language barrier appears to be what is holding him back, but it doesn't take away the excitement he brings when he is on the ball.

At times this season, we've seen manager Chris Davies adapt to physical teams by starting Lyndon Dykes over May. The former Charlton Athletic man spurned a few good opportunities against the Trotters in midweek when starting up top, but we have seen operate in the attacking positions behind the forward for a lot of games this term, so he could easily be returned to one of those spots instead.

Ethan Laird was handed his first start since August at right-back over Taylor Gardner-Hickman. Davies could revert to the Bristol City loanee at the weekend as Laird continues to readjust following his latest injury spell.

Birmingham to score in both halves @ 7/5

Funnily enough, this is a market I haven't yet gone for in a Blues game this season, and I feel foolish for not getting on it sooner. Birmingham to score in both halves this season has landed in six of their 10 matches in the third tier.

It feel like Davies' men are really starting to hit their stride now as they are starting to pull away from the teams around them at the top of the table. Bolton were the latest promotion rival to be comfortably beaten, and Birmingham will now look to dispatch a more surprising contender in Mansfield on Saturday.

Both sides are heading into this game in good form with four wins from their last five. The Stags bounced back from their defeat against Stevenage last weekend with a victory at Wigan Athletic on Tuesday, so their confidence will be back.

Clough will know all about the threat Birmingham will pose to them, and he'll have seen teams that are better than them (in terms of resources) try and fail. He will acknowledge this as his team's toughest test of the campaign to date.

Birmingham were 2-0 winners against Bolton and it was comfortable, but it was nowhere near their best attacking display. I'm expecting them to look sharper in the final third this weekend because they have to be given how well things are going for Mansfield at the moment.

They certainly have the quality to score goals in both halves whether they be the starting stars or the players who are called upon from the bench to have an impact on proceedings.

For the first time in what feels like a very long time, Blues have several players they can rely on to share the goal burden, rather than just one or two - so this has also played into my thinking with this selection.

Jay Stansfield anytime goalscorer @ 15/8

Stansfield was the man who wrapped up the three points against the Trotters, with his goal coming from the penalty spot late in the game. As much as the game was comfortable, as a Blues fan, I was nervous with just the one-goal lead - who isn't?

Bolton did have a spell in the second half, too, and they did have some decent chances, largely down to Birmingham's own doing. So when the penalty was awarded, it came as a huge relief because there was no doubt that Stansfield would put it away.

He now has four goals in the league, and he will be itching to return to the starting XI on Saturday, which I think looks likely. The England Under-21 international is an excellent finisher, but it is also his ball-carrying and movement that make him such a superb talent.

Mansfield are going to have a tough time of it trying to keep him quiet at the weekend, and I'm backing him to score in successive matches for the first time in over a month.

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