Birmingham City are back at St Andrew’s for a hugely successful league clash against promotion contender Southampton.
The Blues suffered a 3-1 defeat to Ipswich Town last weekend in their first game without manager Tony Mowbray, who was temporarily sidelined for medical treatment. Mowbray’s assistant, Mark Venus, will lead the Blues this afternoon.
Southampton dismantled the Blues at St Mary’s in October, but Russell Martin’s side have been through a difficult era recently. The Saints have lost 3 of their last 4 games and were beaten by relegation contender Millwall last time out. They lost ground in the race for automatic promotion to Ipswich and Leeds United.
Les Bleus themselves need things to allay fears of relegation. Their angst was further compounded last weekend when six of the eight teams around them recorded wins to ratchet up the pressure.
Alex Dicken will bring you updates, research and commentary. . .
Joe Aribo scored in the 96th minute to secure a 4-3 win for Southampton Birmingham City with 10 men.
A crazy game at St Andrew’s came in stoppage time from Aribo after Juninho Bacuna equalised for the Blues in the round of 16. The Blues had already noticed the sending off of captain Dion Sanderson.
The Blues led at halftime thanks to goals from Koji Miyoshi and Jay Stansfield on either side from Adam Armstrong. But Southampton responded after the break and equalised through David Brooks before former Blues striker Che Adams gave them the lead before Sanderson was sacked.
Bacuna appeared to have given the Blues a point before Saints substitute Aribo went home. As a result, Les Bleus are now just above the championship relegation zone in terms of goal difference.
Read the ratings HERE
Aribo’s goal is a crazy game. Terrible for Les Bleus, who gave so much to equalise at 10.
Les Bleus are now above the relegation zone on goal difference.
Joe Aribo came on from a narrow variety in the 96th minute. It was a heartbreaking goal for the Blues, who had done well with the Saints up to that point.
Harwood-Bellis brought it down for Aribo to score.
Juninho Bacuna equalised!
This game is insane. Stansfield’s shot hit the post and Bacuna smashed the rebound. Les Bleus now have plenty to hold on to.
Ivan Sunjic replaced Miyoshi for the final 10 minutes for more saves.
Two substitutes for Les Bleus: Dozzell and Paik replaced by Drameh and Pritchard. A home debut for Pritchard.
Smallbone didn’t do Sanderson any favors with his reaction to the challenge and the crowd turned on their backs. He has just been cautioned for a foul on Bacuna.
Dion Sanderson ejected. Straight red card.
Sanderson brushed Smallbone’s shin with a daunting challenge. I’m not sure it’s red. Les Bleus now have 10 men and have a mountain to climb.
Che Adams scored. The former Blues striker weaves his way through a crowd of people after the hosts failed to clear a corner.
Adams looked like he slipped, but recovered to go home. Admittedly, he didn’t celebrate his return to the B9.
Brooks equalises for Southampton. Very late from the edge after a costly slide through Buchanan. 2-2.
Southampton now have their tail up and go straight on the attack after the restart. The Blues would possibly have to weather the typhoon now.
Play resumed after the break. Neither team made adjustments at halftime.
Southampton looks to dominate the ball from the start. A defeat here would be a major blow to their hopes of completing the automatic promotion places.
Southampton had 76 percent ownership and 15 shots, but the Blues lead after clinical finishes from Miyoshi and Stansfield.
Stansfield could also score that hammer to the ceiling of the net, as he has noticed so many times this season.
Jay Stansfield led the Blues 2-1 late in the game.
A long ball from Sanderson inadvertently launched through Bednarek and Stansfield smashed it into the roof of the net on his tenth of the season. What a signing the 21-year-old has been for the Blues.
Good save by Ruddy from Manning’s header at the far post. The Blues did well to clear from the box.
One detail is that Sanderson and Aiwu step up and go toe-to-toe with Southampton’s forwards. The effects have been combined so far.
The Austrian made a smart start and had to get to his feet to prevent Brooks from scoring a moment earlier.
It was a potentially life-saving play through Aiwu against Brooks, who reportedly one-on-one with Ruddy. Southampton then opened up the Blues and now dominate possession.
Adam Armstrong equalised for Southampton. The Blues were offside, but the flag remained down.
It seems that Aiwu is laughing at him. Brooks was given the way and Armstrong finished smartly. 1-1.
So it’s 2-0! Bacuna hits the post from the edge of the box, bounces off Bazunu’s back and goes for a corner for the Blues.
Fantastic play by Aiwu to press and ball from Adams in the middle. Les Bleus are on the attack.
Koji Miyoshi on the brand!
Catch your breath. Les Bleus took the lead in the second minute. A pass from Bacuna and Miyoshi produced an elegant right-footed shot (slightly deflected). That’s six goals for him this season.
Les Bleus got off to a positive start with their press and got their reward.
Referee James Bell has given the team a run for the ball at St Andrew’s. Southampton tries to dominate the ball from the start, as expected.
James started on the left with Bacuna in Stansfield. Je would expect a lot of rotation up front.
Interim head coach Mark Venus let coaches Ashley Cole and Pete Shuttleworth warm up today. Venus was worried about last weekend’s game, but adopted a different strategy for this one.
Cole goes back to the nitty-gritty. The former England foreigner can also be seen giving some advice to Lee Buchanan before the players arrived. The start is not far away now.
Ashley Cole just had a lengthy verbal exchange with Lee Buchanan after the warm-up. It’s a big day for Buchanan, who was left out of the XI after Sheffield on Wednesday. No one is bigger to receive a recommendation in Buchanan’s position. #BCFC pic. twitter . com/SKsWlN6oxM
Emanuel Aiwu has a wonderful chance of claiming a spot in the XI today having fallen out of favour since Tony Mowbray’s appointment. It is the Austrian’s first league to start since Mowbray’s arrival in January.
It is unlikely that the Blues will definitively sign Aiwu from Cremonese at the end of the season. If you want to make St Andrew’s your home, Aiwu wants to start delivering.
This adjustment also represents a wonderful possibility for Lee Buchanan to impress Mowbray and Mark Venus. The left-back has been left out of the XI for the last 3 games after a drop in form. Mowbray and Venus need Buchanan to play as a fast forward, so we watch to see if he follows today’s orders.
Influential midfielder Flynn Downes returns to Southampton’s XI for the first time since February 10. Former Blues striker Che Adams returns to St Andrew’s for the first time.
(4-3-3): Bazunu; Harwood-Bellis, Stephens, Bednarek, Manning; Smallbone, Downes, Armstrong; Brooks, Adams, Armstrong
Substitutes: Lumley, Bree, Charles, Rothwell, Aribo, Dibling, Edozie, Sulemana, Mara
It’s seeing George Hall back today on the Blues team. Acting Chief Mark Venus has been criticizing him lately.
“I’m kind of sure of myself in George. He looked the same. He put himself to the test physically to bring his own confidence to life. “
Hall has played just 58 minutes in the first team this season, but he was prepared for his final comeback.
Three changes to Southampton’s Blues XI. Emanuel Aiwu, Lee Buchanan and Juninho Bacuna are in the starting line-up. Marc Roberts and Krystian Bielik are absent.
Cody Drameh and Tyler Roberts, the players who were left out of the XI after last week’s loss to Ipswich, are on a bench that includes Alex Pritchard and George Hall.
(4-2-3-1): Redhead; Laird, Sanderson, Aiwu, Buchanan; Dozzell, Paik; Miyoshi, James, Bacuna; Stansfield
Substitutes: Etheridge, Drameh, Sunjic, Pritchard, Dembélé, Hall, T Roberts, Jutkiewicz, Hogan
Southampton are the most impressive team I’ve seen against the Blues this season. Leicester and Leeds have been more consistent this season, but Southampton have dominated the Blues in a way they haven’t.
Russell Martin’s teams tend to dominate the ball and Southampton’s diversity of forwards is impressive. The solidity of their bench today will certainly show the hole between the two groups.
However, their taste for football will give Les Bleus opportunities if they press well. Jay Stansfield scored at St Mary’s with effective pressure.
Jordan James has scored more goals than any other Birmingham City player since the start of October; however, marks remain on his position in the team led by Tony Mowbray and now interim manager Mark Venus.
The 19-year-old Welshman scored his eighth goal in an impressive championship season last weekend. All of those goals came in the Blues’ last 23 league games and James has just 16.
In the seven league games the Blues have played since Mowbray’s appointment, James has played once in a deep midfield position, No. 10 once, three times on the left and has been on the bench twice. Although James has scored in his last two games as a member of Les Bleus’ attacking quartet, it is still not conceivable that he can be put to more advantage elsewhere.
Check out our XI HERE
Hello from St Andrew’s, where the Blues host Southampton in a major league clash.
We expect a remarkable crowd today after the brilliant occasion against Sunderland two weeks ago. Southampton are at the top of the league but have lost 3 of their last 4 games, 4 of their last five in all competitions after Wednesday’s FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.
Les Bleus are on a three-game home run.
Southampton (H) #BCFC chasing 3 home wins during the Giro. Southampton’s form has fallen in recent times with 3 defeats in 4 league games. Is he brave enough to hope for a Les Bleus win?pic. twitter. com/qfj37nEjOz
Birmingham City-Southampton
Betway spokesperson Chad Yeomans said: “Two groups at opposite ends of the championship table meet today at St Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium, with Southampton the clear favourites at 17/20 to win. Birmingham will need to bounce back from their defeat to Ipswich last time out. time-out and you will be able to subsidize the 13/5 for the 3 numbers here, with the draw to be held on 11/4.
“After a record run of 25 games unbeaten between late September and mid-February, Southampton have lost 4 of their last five games in all competitions and were heavily beaten by Klopp’s youngsters in the FA Cup this week. As such, some punters of Russell Martin’s men would arguably be vulnerable in their current form and bets on Birmingham winning 2-1 at 7/1 or 2-0 at 9/1 are tempting for punters.