Shrewsbury Town vs Birmingham City Prediction: Blues to get back to winning ways

Gareth Ainsworth takes charge of his first Shrewsbury Town game on Saturday (12:30) in League 1, and it comes against second-placed Birmingham City. The Shrews are ranked bottom of the table with just two wins all season, and Ainsworth will be looking to claim a huge scalp on debut.

The Blues have suffered consecutive draws for the first time this campaign against Mansfield Town and Northampton Town, so they will be eager to get back to winning ways at the weekend. Read on for my Shrewsbury Town vs Birmingham City prediction, accompanied by the latest match odds and team news.

Shrewsbury Town vs Birmingham City Odds

Shrewsbury are 15/2 to win this match, which gives them a theoretical chance of 11.8%. Birmingham are valued at 4/11 to get back to winning ways, giving them an implied probability of 73.3%. The draw can be backed at 4/1 (20%).

Both teams to score is on offer at 1/1 and over 2.5 goals is marketed at 4/6.

Football Odds

Team News

Shrewsbury boss Ainsworth largely has a fit squad to choose from for his first game in charge. He will be looking to put his own stamp on the team so we are likely to see changes to the XI that were beaten by fellow relegation battlers Burton Albion in their last league appearance.

Josh Kayode remains sidelined with the calf issue he picked up back in August, while the Shrews are braced to be without Morgan Feeney against the Blues due to an ankle problem.

Two players who could be in line to keep their places in the side are attackers Leo Castledine and John Marquis, although George Lloyd will be looking to play his way into contention for Saturday.

For Birmingham, they remain without the services of wingers Emil Hansson and Scott Wright due to injury, while defender Lee Buchanan is edging closer to being available for selection for the first time this season. Right-back Alfons Sampsted is a doubt to feature after he hobbled off against Wales while representing Iceland during the week.

Supporters have been growing frustrated in recent weeks with Chris Davies continuing to persist with Jay Stansfield as the striker while Alfie May holds a free-roaming position behind the youngster. They feel that the team would get more out of May if he was the one leading the line, because his goals have been sparse since Stansfield returned to the club.

May looked lost at times against Northampton last time out, and the fans are hoping that it might have given the manager something to think about over the international break.

This system has also been forcing Iceland international, Willum Willumsson, to occupy more space on the right, but he offers much more influence on the field when he's in more central positions. The attacker has four goals and four assists in 13 league matches so far this season.

Davies is expected to name a similar XI once again with Ryan Allsop in goal, supported by Alex Cochrane, Krystian Bielik, Christoph Klarer and Ethan Laird in defence. Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho will continue in the engine room, while Keshi Anderson looks set to hold his place on the left flank.

Birmingham City -1 handicap @ 21/20

Birmingham would have much preferred to have played this game before Ainsworth was appointed because they will fear the potential new manager bounce. It doesn't change the fact that the Shrews are going to need something spectacular to change their fortunes around quickly, and it is difficult to see that happening against the promotion favourites.

The Blues have visited this ground once already this season in the EFL Trophy, posting a comfortable 4-0 victory which is the biggest scoreline they have record across all competitions this term. They will be hoping for the same again but they know it will be a different challenge with a new boss in the dugout.

After two consecutive draws, Davies and his players need to get back to winning ways, especially as they have an opportunity to increase the gap between themselves and the teams just below them with the games in hand that they have.

Wycombe Wanderers are above them presently, but they will look to change that sooner rather than later. The Chairboys have scored eight more goals than Birmingham in the league, but the Blues know they need to convert more of their chances.

In their draw with the Cobblers, they racked up an xG of 4.03 but only managed the one goal. They've been creating plenty of chances but their goal returns at times haven't been good enough.

They will hope to change that against one of the worst defences in the league that has already shipped 27 goals. I like the look of backing Birmingham to win this clash with a -1 handicap because it has been a successful selection on four occasions for them this season against Wrexham, Rotherham United, Lincoln City and Bolton Wanderers.

Jay Stansfield anytime goalscorer @ 11/10

Stansfield had a largely quiet game against the Cobblers, as did May, but he still made the most of the few opportunities he had to open the scoring and grab his fifth goal in eight league appearances.

The England Under-21 international now has four goals in as many appearances in all competitions, and he will be eager for more after the latest international break.

He missed the EFL Trophy clash with the Shrews last month because he was on Young Lions duty, but you get the feeling that he could have had a profitable evening in front of goal if he was available.

Stansfield will be eager to help his team start this next phase of league matches with a win, while adding to his tally so that he can catch up in the Golden Boot Race. I'm backing him to score in this one.

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