Peterborough vs Birmingham Prediction: It could be party time for Blues

Birmingham City can secure promotion back to the Championship at the first time of asking when they travel to face Peterborough United in League 1 at the West Homes Stadium on Tuesday (19:45, Sky Sports+). The Blues need just three points, or for third-placed Wycombe Wanderers to drop points at Huddersfield Town, to seal their return back to the second tier.

Their clash with Posh kicks off a double header between the two clubs, with the second game coming from Wembley on Sunday as they contest the Vertu Trophy final. Read on for my Peterborough vs Birmingham predictions, supported by the latest team news and match odds.

Football Odds

Team News

Peterborough are having to cope without defender Tayo Edun on Tuesday following the red card he picked up in the 4-0 defeat to Northampton Town on Saturday. Darren Ferguson may turn to the experienced Carl Johnston to deputise for Edun at left-back against Birmingham.

With Posh nine points clear of relegation, as well as the damning defeat to Northampton and a bit of foresight for the cup final on Sunday, Ferguson may be tempted to rotate his squad, and there may be opportunities waiting for players such as Cian Hayes and Gustav Lindgren.

Joint-top scorer Kwame Poku may be given a rest so that he is refreshed for Wembley at the end of the week, but Ferguson might consider leaving Malik Mothersille and Ricky-Jade Jones in attack.

Lyndon Dykes (calf), Lee Buchanan and Scott Wright (both knee) remain out of action for Birmingham. The Blues are also missing Emil Hansson following another injury setback which has seen him miss the last two matches.

Taylor Gardner-Hickman has been missing for the past five League 1 games but boss Chris Davies has previously said the versatile midfielder is set to return imminently.

If Davies opts to rest some key personnel for Sunday, we may see a few alterations in midweek. Alfons Sampsted can take Ethan Laird's spot at right-back, while captain Krystian Bielik could come into the centre of defence for one of Christoph Klarer or Ben Davies.

Marc Leonard might earn himself another start at the expense of either Paik Seung-ho or Tomoki Iwata. Fresh after scoring his first league goal of the season, veteran Lukas Jutkiewicz will be eager for another run out on Tuesday, although it is hard to see Davies starting him ahead of both Jay Stansfield and Alfie May.

All three forwards were on the scoresheet in the 6-2 triumph over Barnsley on Saturday, which will have pleased Davies. May now has four goals in his last three appearances in the third tier, and he will be pushing for a start in PE2.

Peterborough vs Birmingham Odds

Peterborough have won five of their last nine games in the third tier and they are 18/5 to inflict a fourth league defeat on the table-toppers.

Two of Birmingham's previous four away trips in League 1 have seen them share the spoils, and the draw is marketed at 3/1 for Tuesday. The Blues have won four of their past five fixtures coming into this contest, and they did beat Posh 3-2 in the reverse fixture back in September.

They are 7/10 to collect the three points that would secure automatic promotion back to the Championship. Their three latest victories have seen them fail to keep a clean sheet, so Birmingham and both teams to score may be an appealing price at 11/5, which has an implied probability of 31.3%.

BTTS on its own is on offer at 4/6 and it has struck in 12 of Peterborough's 20 league games at the Weston Homes this term.

Over 3.5 goals @ 13/8

There is value to be had in backing goals in this clash because Peterborough have been involved in a lot of matches filled with goals in 2024/25. In League 1, 17 of their 40 fixtures have produced four or more goals, including each of their last three.

This market was a successful bet when they played Birmingham at St Andrew's earlier in the season, a game in which they were even 2-0 up inside the opening 20 minutes.

Additionally, there have been nine occasions across the visitors' 39 appearances in the third tier in which over 3.5 goals has been a winning selection. Two of them have come in their previous three outings against Shrewsbury Town and Barnsley.

For much of the season, people have questioned the attacking impetus of the high-spending Blues, but they have been silencing their critics in recent weeks with 12 goals in three games, while they are now the top scorers in the division with 71.

The form of Birmingham, coupled with Posh's trend of producing high-scoring affairs, points towards there being goals aplenty in Peterborough.

Jay Stansfield anytime goalscorer @ 23/20

Stansfield has had a huge target on his back this season as the League 1 record transfer. He has been living up to the price tag, despite what people say, with 23 goals across all competitions.

Of that total, 18 have come in League 1 and he is the joint-top scorer with Wycombe's Richard Kone. Rival supporters have tried tearing him down because half of his tally have come from the penalty spot - you still have to be able to convert those chances.

The England Under-21 international's last two goals have come from 12 yards in the last two matches against Bristol Rovers and Barnsley. Birmingham have also been awarded the most penalties (13) in the third tier in 2024/25.

Whether it's the result of a spot-kick, his pressing or overall movement, Stansfield is never short of goalscoring opportunities, and I fancy him to add to his tally against Posh, who he netted against back in September.

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