Birmingham City can wrestle the top spot in League One away from Wycombe with a win over relegation-threatened Crawley on Monday night.
Our EFL tipster James O’Rourke dives into the markets looking for four winning legs for his Monday night Bet Builder. Let’s get his Crawley v Birmingham betting tips.
Crawley v Birmingham Bet Builder Tips
Both teams to score, no
Birmingham half time
Jay Stansfield anytime goalscorer
Crawley to receive the most cards
WHEN: Monday, 23rd of December, 8pm
WHERE: Broadfield Stadium, Crawley
TV: Sky Sports Football
Both teams to score, no
One would suspect Birmingham will find the back of the net in this game. After all, Chris Davies’ side have done so in all bar one of their 18 League One battles this season. Given the plethora of attacking talent they possess, it will take either a mammoth defensive effort from Crawley or something of an off-day by the away side.
Therefore, the main debate here is whether Crawley will contribute to the goal tally themselves. They may do, and Birmingham don’t have an out-of-this-world clean sheet record across the season as a whole.
However, that is improving on a count of earning three over their previous four league assignments. Also, with games coming thick and fast at this time of year, Birmingham can be expected to put on a professional display.
Despite dominating possession in practically every game, Davies’ sides don’t necessarily blow opponents away in terms of score. That is certainly the case on the road, where all six of their league successes have been by a one or two-goal margin.
The plan will be to keep Crawley at bay and play their usual game, which should be enough for a slender but likely convincing victory.
Birmingham half time
Something Birmingham will be used to by now this season is them being everyone’s ‘cup final’ in League One. Crawley will be the latest side to welcome them to town and will hope to cause a big shock.
One sure-fire way The Blues can quieten the crowd early doors is to get on the front foot and ideally open the scoring. The first goal will be huge here as Crawley getting something to hold onto would make this a tricky afternoon for the visitors.
Only once all season have Birmingham been losing an away league contest after 45 minutes. They’ve been leading four times, and four times, it has been level. Again, noting their commanding high possession statistics, it is likely those draws will mainly have been as a result of struggling to break a stubborn opponent down.
That will ultimately be the key. However, Crawley have conceded 43.75% of their league goals in the opening 30 minutes of league fixtures in 2024/25, so there is a vulnerability there that a super-talented Birmingham can expose in the opening stages.
Jay Stansfield anytime goalscorer
It was well-documented that Birmingham paid a large fee to permanently lure Jay Stansfield to the club. Therefore, it should be no surprise to see him already on double-digit goals at this point in the campaign.
His goal return has been nothing short of sensational. The striker has returned 11 goals from 16 appearances in all competitions. Perhaps more impressively, he has only failed to net in one of his last six appearances, firing in six goals in the process, too.
Birmingham do have a big squad, and they are likely to utilize that over the Christmas period. However, Chris Davies will surely know he cannot stand in front of Stansfield now, particularly given his goal exploits in recent times. In tricky clashes like this, away to a relegation-threatened team, someone like Stansfield should excel.
The home side have shipped an average of three goals across their previous three fixtures in league and cup. Stansfield will want to jump all over this game and further add to his goal tally.
Crawley to receive the most cards
As far as cards are concerned, the key for Birmingham here is to keep their composure. There is absolutely no need for them to lose their cool here. They are clearly the superior of the two sides, and they should be looking to adopt a real professional stance.
The fact is they will dominate and control the game for long spells, so they should be letting the ball do the talking. In matches like this, the only concerns are maybe Crawley counter-attacking, meaning The Blues could make a tactical foul or two. However, it is worth noting that City are one of the lowest-carded teams in League One.
Crawley, on the other hand, are right up near the top of the card count in the division. The team has received 15 more cards compared to their opponents in league action. That will come as a result of being more desperate, which is understandable as they are fighting a relegation battle.
As mentioned, they will be second-best in the possession battle, so they will do plenty of chasing across the 90 minutes. Tiredness and fatigue will set in quicker for them, meaning sloppy decisions and that often leads to plenty of cards.
Crawley v Birmingham betting tips
Both teams to score, no
Birmingham half time
Jay Stansfield anytime goalscorer
Crawley to receive the most cards
All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change.
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