Why The Return Of Che Adams, Jason Lowe and Jota Could Propel Birmingham To A Win Over Cardiff
Birmingham City, now under the care of Steve Cotterill, are set to welcome back Che Adams, Jason Lowe and Jota when they face table-toppers Cardiff City tonight and they are hoping to making it a horrible Friday 13th for the Welsh side.
Cardiff have been excellent this season in reaching top spot, very well organised in defence and have shown pace on the break in their attack. But their squad still has the look one of which could be ultimately vulnerable against the better teams.
When the dust settles on a 46-game season, Birmingham may not be included in the description of those “better teams”, but there is no doubt their squad was improved markedly over the summer and on their home patch, they should be able to pose a danger to just about anybody.
This is the perfect game for Birmingham as (this is not a criticism), footballers tend to naturally be more motivated and up for it against better teams, though that determination often still leads to little reward given the quality of their opponents.
On this occasion though, Birmingham welcome back some crucial players under the floodlights against the team arriving here as table-toppers, yet ultimately who look like finishing elsewhere in the top 6. In other words, Birmingham are likely to throw in their best performance of the season but against a side who could be not too far ahead of them in the rankings.
This therefore is a very winnable game for the Blues although I’m sure that the fact is lost on Neil Warnock. The Cardiff manager knows that this is no easy league and he’s been at the top of this division before only to lose a couple of games on the trot, though he will relish the challenge of keeping Brum at bay.
Don’t get me wrong, Cardiff’s narrow win at Wolves was a highlight but overall, their away form isn’t too exciting. A draw at Fulham, a 1-0 win against a very weak Burton Albion, a win at equally underwhelming Sunderland and a heavy defeat at Preston don’t read that well in the context of promotion challengers.
Now, Birmingham have been shocking in comparison and no more so than being belted 6-1 at Hull before the international break. However, their home results so far offer just a crumb of hope.
Wins against Bristol City and Sheffield Wednesday read alright and with potential game winners like Jota and Adams now back, tonight could be their night.