Just six Gameweeks remain in the 2010/11 Premier League season and, as “squeaky bum time” approaches, teams begin to catch up on those fixtures rescheduled from early year congestion. With their euphoric Carling Cup run, Birmingham have been playing much of the second half of the season with a game in hand but Gameweek 33 will finally see them pull alongside the rest of the pack by playing two Premier League matches, in what could be a pivotal five day period for their top-flight survival chances.
Alex McLeish’s side currently hold 35 Premier League points and sit 16th in the league, with just 4 points separating themselves from bottom club Wigan Athletic. But the league is so tightly balanced that, theoretically, anyone from ninth-placed Newcastle downwards could still fall through the relegation trap door.
The Prospects
Other than Wigan, Birmingham have scored the fewest goals in the Premier League this season, averaging just one goal per game (31). Although significantly better than their fellow relegation strugglers, the club’s Goals Against column in the Premier League table doesn’t make up for their lacklustre finishing and they currently hold a poor goal difference (-12). The Blues are not in the best of form, with just 1 win in their last 6 Premier League outings, a run Big Eck will be urgently looking to improve.
The first of the two clashes, which sees them play host to Sunderland, is undoubtedly the more attractive of the pair. The Blues have performed better at St Andrews than on their travels this season, picking up 22 of their 35 points on home soil. Sunderland are just 3 points better off than Birmingham and are suffering an extreme loss of form, suffering defeat in 7 of their last 8 fixtures. This barren patch could work in Birmingham’s favour, although Steve Bruce and co will be looking to secure their Premier League status and prove their worth.
What makes this first game of the double so crucial is Birmingham then travel down the M40 in midweek to face Chelsea. Knocked out of Europe and all but out of the title race, Carlo Ancelotti’s side’s most realistic focus is to finish second in the Premier League – on paper their season is pretty much over. But Ancelotti will be wanting to keep his job and players such as Fernando Torres definitely have something to prove – a trip to Stamford Bridge is always going to be difficult.
The Likely Lads
Goalkeeper Ben Foster is always a solid choice between the posts and 25% of Fantasy Premier League Managers have noticed. The England international is in good form at the moment and, before the 1-1 draw with Blackburn, he had made 28 saves in 3 games. Priced at 5.3 on the FPL, there are certainly cheaper options out there but Foster’s return of 129 for the season proves his reliability and worth.
In the Birmingham defence we have Fantasy favourites Roger Johnson (5.3) and Liam Ridgewell (5.5) – both of whom hold around 11% ownership. These guys are solid choices who can occasionally chip in with the odd goal; Ridgewell has found the back of the net 4 times this season. Johnson has the heart of the bonus point judges though and may be the wiser choice – he has fetched 20 this term and 6 in his last 4 games. Johnson was struggling with a slight knock and managed just 45 minutes against Blackburn last week, but McLeish has since quelled any fears by stating the centre half should be ready for this weekend.
Craig Gardner is the Blues’ top goal scorer this season in the Premier League with 6 and priced at 4.9 he offers a bargain midfield option, particularly with his penalty duties. David Bentley could be worth a look at if he recovers from his groin injury in time but apart from that, it really is slim pickings in the Birmingham midfield for Fantasy Managers. There’s the cheap valuation of the likes of Lee Bowyer and Barry Ferguson – but they don’t offer much more.
The most in-form striker is currently Cameron Jerome, who has returned a respectable 2 assists and one Bonus Point in the last 2 games. Not someone to get overly excited about, he should, nevertheless, start both fixtures and is fairly budget at 5.5. Nikola Zigic is a slightly better shout, but a groin injury has meant that he hasn’t started any of the last 5 fixtures and he is unlikely to feature predominantly in both outings.
Cheeky Punt
Who doesn’t want Kevin Phillips to do well these days? The 37 year old Premier League veteran has recently found himself back amongst the first team, starting the last 2 matches and scoring against Bolton. Although 2 games in the space of 5 days might be too much, couldn’t you half imagine him bagging a goal against former club Sunderland? Priced at 4.1 on the FPL, he would free up funds for big money purchases.
