Our prediction for this Championship match:
Birmingham City
Match Time & Date:
22/01/2022
16:00
Prediction: 1-1
Barnsley
St. Andrew’s Stadium will host Saturday’s football game between Birmingham City and Barnsley. The Blues do not seem to bet at their sharpest, with the team collecting only one point in total from the previous four league fixtures. All Troy Deeney, Marcel Oakley, and Adan George are out of contention with injuries, while January signing Onel Hernandez should keep his place in the starting XI.
The Tykes, on the other hand, are stuck at the bottom of the table with only 14 points in their pocket. Barnsley are desperate to keep their survival hopes alive, and seeing that Birmingham experienced all sorts of problems at the back in their last league match, away win should be considered. All Michal Helik, Cauley Woodrow, Cameron Thompson, and Aapo Halme miss out with injuries, but there are no suspended players in the away side.
Highlighted Player (George Friend):
George Friend has played for no less than nine English clubs so far in his career. Friend made his first-team debut for non-League club Exeter City on April 17, 2006 in a goalless draw with Forest Green Rovers and he stayed at St James Park until 2008. After ending his loan spells with Tiverton Town and Team Bath he joined Wolverhampton, but he made no more than seven appearances for the Wolves in the league.
The 188-cm-tall left-back, who is capable of playing as a centre-back as well, played for the likes of Millwall, Southend, Scunthorpe United and Exeter City on loan during his spell with Wolverhampton and at the end of the 2009/2010 season he signed a two-year deal with Doncaster Rovers. Friend made his Doncaster debut on August 7, 2010 in a 2-0 win over Preston and after three years at the club he was sold to Middlesbrough for a fee of £100,000.
The left-footed defender has been playing for Boro ever since and you should know that he made 24 appearances for the club in the 2016/2017 Premier League campaign.
Highlighted Team (Barnsley):
Barnsley are an English club nicknamed the Tykes. The club was founded in 1887 and it has to be noted that they spend more seasons in the Championship than any other club in the history. The Tykes played in the Sheffield and District League from 1890, but in 1895 they were part of the Midland League. Barnsley play their home games at Oakwell, the stadium that was built in 1887.
The capacity of the stadium is 23,009 and it was opened back in 1888, just one year after the club’s foundation. The Tykes made it to the FA Cup final in 1910, but Newcastle United proved to be a big catch for the Oakwell outfit in the title game.
Nonetheless, Barnsley won the FA cup trophy in 1912 and that is considered the club’s biggest success. Barnsley defeated West Bromwich Albion in the two-legged tie (0-0, 1-0) to clinch the prestigious trophy for the first and only time in their history.
