On Tuesday night, Championship Birmingham City welcomes Premier League Bournemouth to St Andrew’s Stadium in the second round of the League Cup.
Birmingham have enjoyed a mixed start to their Championship campaign, winning one, drawing one and losing one of their first three games in the second tier.
With experienced Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp at the helm, the Midlands outfit are always going to be competitive. Redknapp has been active in the transfer market of late snapping up Arsenal full-backs Cohen Bramall and Carl Jenkinson on season-long loan deals.
The home side have a bit of a patchy recent record in the League Cup, winning three and losing three of their previous six games in the competition. On home soil in this competition, their recent record reads won two, drew one and lost one in 90 minutes.
Bournemouth have a very good recent record against Birmingham, winning the last four competitive meetings with the Blues. The Cherries have also won on their last three visits to St Andrews, including recording an extraordinary 8-0 win back in 2014.
Eddie Howe’s side have started their Premier League campaign with consecutive defeats against West Brom and Watford. The team from the south coast have also failed to score in both of the defeats.
Their record in the League Cup is mixed, having won one, lost one and drew one game in 90 minutes. However, the game they drew saw the Cherries beaten in extra-time by Championship Preston North End in last season’s competition.
The visitors have a decent away record in this competition, winning four of their last six games and losing just once. Visiting boss Howe may decide to rotate his squad in this clash with a difficult home game against Manchester City to come on Saturday.
Forebet predicts that Bournemouth’s winning run against the homes side will end and that Birmingham will advance to the next round of the competition.