Stevenage vs Birmingham Prediction: Hosts can make life tough for Blues

The Vertu Trophy has reached the quarter-finals stage and Tuesday (19:45, Sky Sports+) sees Stevenage hope to pull off a huge upset against the tournament favourites, Birmingham City, who head to the Lamex Stadium.

The Boro picked up a hard-fought 1-0 victory at Leyton Orient to progress to this stage, while the Blues needed a late winner to get themselves past Swindon Town. Below you will find my Stevenage vs Birmingham prediction, alongside the latest team news and match odds.

Stevenage vs Birmingham Odds

Stevenage have won four of their last eight home matches in League 1 and they are 3/1 to stun Birmingham on Tuesday.

Two of that run ended in stalemates, while the visitors have drawn two of their previous four away trips in the third tier. It's 9/4 for this tie to end level after 90 minutes.

Birmingham are unbeaten in their last 17 appearances in all competitions, which includes eight victories on their travels. They are 5/6 (which has an implied probability of 54.5%) to prevail in regulation time.

Over 2.5 goals has struck in each of the Boro's last four home games in League 1, and this market is on offer at 10/11 (52.4%) on Tuesday.

Football Odds

Team News

Stevenage boss Alex Revell may be tempted to stick with the same XI that thrashed Exeter City last time out. Winger Jordan Roberts is going to be pumped up for this tie after scoring a brace against the Grecians, while Dan Kemp and Jamie Reid should join him in the final third, alongside striker Louis Appere.

The only fitness concern the hosts have ahead of this cup tie is full-back Luther James-Wildin, who has missed the last two fixtures. His involvement on Tuesday looks doubtful as a result.

After a comeback victory against Rotherham United on Saturday, Birmingham boss Chris Davies has a big week of cup fixtures to focus on. First they have this EFL Trophy quarter-final clash, before they welcome Newcastle United to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday.

The former Tottenham Hotspur assistant might be torn over how to set up his team across these two fixtures, so we could see him go full-strength in both. This is because his altered XI narrowly got past Swindon in their last outing in this competition, and Stevenage are in excellent shape ahead of their contest.

This is the first time they meet this campaign, too, due to their initial league fixture getting rescheduled, so Davies cannot afford to underestimate Boro.

Lee Buchanan (knee), Paik Seung-ho and Willum Willumsson (both unspecified) are out of action for the visitors, but January additions Kieran Dowell and Grant Hanley are both available to feature at the Lamex.

Veteran forward Lukas Jutkiewicz has featured mostly in cup squads this campaign, so we could see him involved in some capacity on Tuesday night.

Birmingham and both teams to score @ 3/1

Swindon nearly pulled off a huge upset against Birmingham in the round of 16 when they netted a late equaliser. You felt like the game was headed for spot-kicks to settle it but like they have done for much of the campaign, the Blues found a way to win - with an own goal from a cross their saviour that time.

Stevenage have just won three games on the spin in League 1, and they will be fired up for this home clash against the tournament favourites. The Boro have been in great form going forward of late, having mustered nine goals in their last four appearances across all competitions.

Birmingham have just the one clean sheet in this competition so far, and so they know that they will need to be clinical against this confident Stevenage side. The Blues have shown time and again throughout this campaign that they have what it take to find a path to victory.

They are likely to face some adversity at times here, but there is so much character in their squad that I believe they can rise to the occasion once again.

Over 2.5 goals @ 10/11

With the form that these two teams are in heading into Tuesday's contest, I think we could be provided entertainment value in terms of goals. Stevenage's last two matches in League 1 have ended 3-2 and 4-1 against Wrexham and Exeter respectively, so the home team are in red-hot form.

Birmingham beat Rotherham 2-1 last time out, which was the same scoreline when they defeated Swindon in this competition a few weeks ago. They don't tend to score a great deal of goals but an in-form Stevenage attack might force them to raise their game in the final third.

Offers

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