After recording back-to-back wins in the Championship against Nottingham Forest at home and away at QPR, Birmingham City looked comfortable favourites at St Andrews to register a third league win on the trot.
But as we all know, the Championship often throws a spanner in the works and Bolton Wanderers duly obliged as they produced a shock 1-0 win over The Blues last week.
Birmingham City have another chance to redeem themselves though when they entertain Blackburn Rovers at St Andrews on Saturday afternoon as the hosts look to keep their hopes of a play-off spot alive.
However, recent defeats to Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers have slowed Birmingham’s progress down and the hosts now find themselves seven points adrift of 6th placed Bristol City.
One thing that hasn’t slowed down though are the goals scored by Birmingham City as 8 of their 16 home matches have resulted in over 2.5 goals, and with the likes of forwards Adams (19 goals) and Jutkiewicz (10 goals) in tandem up front, the hosts look good for at least a goal here, given Blackburn’s defensive problems away from home this season.
Onto Blackburn Rovers then, and Tony Mowbray’s side sit in 14th place after they slumped to a fourth defeat on the trot in the Championship last weekend when they lost 1-0 to Middlesbrough.
This certainly wasn’t what former Middlesbrough manager, Mowbray, had in mind at Ewood Park against Boro, and previous defeats to Brentford, Bristol City and Reading have all but put paid to any lingering hopes they had of a top six finish as they trail Bristol City by a 10-point margin.
Blackburn Rovers have done reasonably well at home in their return to the Championship this season, but it’s been their results away from home that have held the visitors back as they’ve lost 8 of their 16 matches on the road this term.
To make matters worse, Rovers possess the second worst defensive record away from home in the Championship (behind only to bottom club Ipswich Town) as the visitors have leaked a total of 33 goals to date on their travels.
This has contributed to 10 of Blackburn Rovers’s 16 away matches resulting in over 2.5 goals, but although they’ve been generous at the back, they too possess serious goal threats of their own in the shape of midfielder Dack (11 goals) and forwards Graham (10 goals) and Armstrong (4 goals) as well as defender Mulgrew who has popped up with 8 goals.
With neither Birmingham City or Blackburn Rovers looking a solid bet for a straight win here, the over 2.5 goals market looks a good option for this clash.