Crawley Town v Birmingham City: Prediction, Tips and Odds

Birmingham City are entering the busy Christmas period in fine form and they should maintain their League One promotion push with a comfortable success over Crawley Town on Monday.

The hosts, in contrast, are in the bottom four and could well be in for a tough relegation scrap over the winter and beyond.

Crawley Town v Birmingham City betting tips and predictions

Birmingham to win to nil - 11/8

Blues were a lot of people's favourites for the League One title in the summer following their relegation from the Championship and little has changed in the first half of the season to suggest they won't be right up competing for the crown come the end of the campaign.

Following Saturday's games in the third tier, Chris Davies' side are second, two points behind leaders Wycombe, but they have games in hand on all their promotion rivals.

Slipping up at at the Broadfield Stadium seems unlikely, especially when you consider City are on a six-game winning streak in all competitions, and Crawley approach the game in the bottom four, having picked up just five league wins all season.

Blues can go back to the top of the table with a win and have demonstrated they have superior quality than a lot of their League One rivals this season already after splashing the cash in the summer. They should have few problems swatting Town aside on Monday.

Of their last four league victories, three have come with the added bonus of a clean sheet, and only Wrexham, with 14, have conceded fewer than the 16 goals Blues have so far shipped in the division.

The chance of another win to nil looks high considering Birmingham have won without conceding recently against Stockport, Bristol Rovers and Exeter - all sides who are currently higher in the table than Crawley.

Under 2.5 goals - 5/4

Even though Birmingham are enjoying a fine season, there has not been an abundance of goals in their recent games.

Leaders Wycombe have scored nine more than Davies' side and it has been their mean defence, that has instead been the basis for the West Midlands' outfit's promotion charge.

Overall, 10 of City's 18 games have featured under 2.5 total goals this season, stats that have been bolstered by recent games, as seven of their last 10 outings have had two goals or fewer.

Rather than blowing away weaker opposition regularly, Blues are instead concentrating on getting the job done and managing games well when getting in front to ensure they pick up all three points.

Relegation-threatened Crawley, meanwhile, were involved in a high-scoring 4-3 defeat against Peterborough most recently, but Rob Elliot's side have managed only 20 goals in their 19 matches.

Jay Stansfield to score anytime - 21/20

Jay Stansfield is having an outstanding season for Birmingham, with 10 league goals in just 13 appearances.

He will again be dangerous for the visitors on Monday and it would be no surprise to see him on the scoresheet at Broadfield.

The 22-year-old appears to be thriving after dropping down from the Premier League with Fulham and into the third tier and his quality is apparent in the final third.

Averaging a goal every 101 minutes, Stansfield comfortably has the best minutes-per-goal ratio among the leading scorers in League One, while he has a ruthless 21% shot conversion rate.

Furthermore, Stansfield approaches the game having netted seven in his last eight league games, including both goals in the 2-1 win at Barnsley earlier this month as well as the second, from the penalty spot, in the 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers last week.

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Crawley Town v Birmingham City odds

Crawley - 13/2
Draw - 7/2
Birmingham - 2/5

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.