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Forest Green - Birmingham
England FA Cup - The New Lawn
Prediction 1
Forest Green to win
11/4 (3.75)
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Odds from
Prediction 2
Over 2.5 goals
1/1 (2.00)
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Odds from
* Betting odds were correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Forest Green host Birmingham at The New Lawn stadium on Tuesday 17th January in a delayed third round FA Cup clash.
Forest Green vs Birmingham: Our top betting predictions
Neither of these sides arrive into this game in amazing form. Will that just mean that the higher ranked team, namely Birmingham, come out on top or can Forest Green take advantage of their out of sorts visitors? Find out with our Forest Green vs Birmingham match preview with free tips, predictions and odds mentioned along the way.
Contents
Backing the upset
We kick off our predictions for this game by backing Forest Green to win. The hosts have not been in good form of late as they sit winless in five matches, however, they have notably won three of their past five home games. When you combine that with a look at the ropey run Birmingham have been on recently things become a lot less clear. The Blues have only won two of their last 10 games and have lost four on the spin heading into this match. Of course, we acknowledge the difference in level these teams play at but Birmingham may well make a few changes to their lineup as well for a cup clash and, at that point, we fancy an upset – especially with Forest Green holding home advantage.
Expecting a few goals
Our next prediction for this game comes from the total goals market and it's an over 2.5 goals tip that stands out to us. Forest Green have seen four of their last five home games clear that 2.5 goal threshold with a game average of 2.8 goals per game. Birmingham meanwhile have been as equally high scoring away from home; just one of their last five games on the road have gone south of the 2.5 cut off. Their game average sits at a healthy 3.0 across that period as well. These two sides have met before as well so we have some head to head record to mention – the last clash between Forest Green and Birmingham featured three goals!
Here are the key stats & form guide for Forest Green vs Birmingham
Head to Head
07/01/23
England FA Cup FA Cup
Forest Green
Birmingham
0
0
16/07/16
Europe Friendlies Europe
Forest Green
Birmingham
0
3
15/07/14
UK Friendlies UK
Forest Green
Birmingham
0
1
Last Five - Forest Green
28/11/23
England League 2 England
Bradford
Forest Green
3
0
L
25/11/23
England League 2 England
Walsall
Forest Green
0
0
D
18/11/23
England League 2 England
Grimsby
Forest Green
2
2
D
14/11/23
England FA Cup FA Cup
Scarborough Athletic
Forest Green
2
5
W
11/11/23
England League 2 England
Tranmere
Forest Green
3
0
L
Last Five - Birmingham
25/11/23
England Championship CHA
Sheff Wed
Birmingham
1
2
W
11/11/23
England Championship CHA
Sunderland
Birmingham
3
1
L
04/11/23
England Championship CHA
Ipswich
Birmingham
2
2
D
28/10/23
England Championship CHA
Southampton
Birmingham
3
1
L
25/10/23
England Championship CHA
Hull
Birmingham
2
0
L
So, that gives you some insight to how the different bookmakers see the action unfolding. How though do the bookies odds translate into probabilities ahead of this game and how might that impact your view of our predictions? Let's find out.
Forest Green odds: 11/4 (3.75) – 27%
Draw odds: 5/2 (3.50) – 29%
Birmingham odds: 8/9 (1.89) – 53%
Birmingham arrive in this game with the bookies expecting them to run out winners – and fairly overwhelmingly so as well. In fact, the match result isn't the only area the bookmakers think they have susses. They've also priced under 2.5 goals at a reasonably short price at 4/5 (1.80) whilst Forest Green are a long shot to keep a clean sheet.
Check out the predicted lineups ahead of Forest Green vs Birmingham
Forest Green
Forest Green are rock bottom of League One right now and they'll see this competition as a perfect distraction and the opportunity to move into latter rounds as a potential money maker, which is huge for a club like them. Regardless of bigger priorities in the league they'll go with a full strength XI here.
Predicted lineup – Doohan, Robson, Cooper, Casey, Goodwin-Malife, McGeouch, Stevenson, Peart-Harris, McAllister, March, Garrick
Birmingham
Birmingham are not a million miles above the Championship drop zone with just six points between them and third bottom Huddersfield, who have a game in hand. They'll still want and expect to win this game but they're unlikely to risk all of their best players. Expect a few changes.
Predicted lineup – Etheridge, Friend, Sanderson, Long, Graham, Colin, Khadra, Mejbri, James, Chang, Jutkiewicz
Starting Lineups
*Starting lineups are usually announced one hour prior to kick off.
Player to watch
Jordan Garrick has only just made his debut for Forest Green and has enjoyed limited time on the grass before that with Lincoln, however, he's impressed when playing. He netted a goal on his debut for Rovers at the weekend and, before that, has featured in the EFL Cup and Trophy for Lincoln weighing in with two assist and a goal from those five cup games. His league displays for Lincoln are less inspiring from a stat perspective but this is another cup game…
A quickfire FAQ on Forest Green vs Birmingham
- Where is the match being played? – The New Lawn
- Who do the bookmakers have as favourites? – Birmingham
- What time does the match kick off? 19:45 GMT
- Has either team ever won the FA Cup? No, neither Forest Green or Birmingham have lifted the FA Cup. The latter, however, have come very close on two occasions having lost in two finals. The most recent came in 1956 as they lost 3-1 to Man City with their first final defeat coming in 1931 against their city rivals West Brom.
- What respective leagues do these two teams play in? Birmingham are currently a Championship side where they sit 18th. Forest Green meanwhile are battling relegation in the division below, League One.
- Who are the current leading scorers for each team? Scott Hogan heads the way for Birmingham with nine goals in all competitions. For Forest Green, their leading scorer was Connor Wickham, who also sat on nine goals. He's become a free agent this window though meaning their active leading scorer is Josh March with six.
