Championship
Hull City are in the playoff spots with 11 games to go, and are at home on Tuesday night as they look to cement their position. They welcome Birmingham City to the KC Stadium, a team who have been dragged into the relegation battle, and are level on points with Stoke in the bottom three, outside of the drop zone thanks to goal difference only.
Hull City Form GuideAt one point not too long back, we had a long line of teams trying to challenge for the playoffs, and one by one, they've fallen away to leave a core group in the hunt. On the inside, we have West Brom and Hull, on the outside trying to get in we have Norwich, Preston and Coventry, so Hull are in control of their own destiny for now.
They come into this game on a five game unbeaten run, with three wins and two draws in that period. The draws have both been in their most recent games, and against fellow playoff sides. They drew 0-0 at Preston on Saturday and 1-1 at home to West Brom before that. Wins have come against Southampton, Huddersfield and Rotherham recently.
Birmingham City Form GuideA jump in form when Tony Mowbray arrived, but since he's had to step away due to ill health, Birmingham have been on the slide again. They've lost their last two games, and are now right in the heart of the relegation fight. Just one goal separates them from being in or out of the drop zone, we are now at the stage where every point and goal could make all the difference.
They were beaten by Southampton at the weekend, a game where I thought Birmingham played really well in parts, and probably deserved something, but they ran out 4-3 losers on that occasion. Before that, it wasn't as good, in a 3-1 defeat away at Ipswich, this offers them another really tough task.
Match PredictionI think Hull will have enough in the tank to win this one. They're the better team, unbeaten for a while now and while they've drawn their last two games, that's been against good sides, I think they take the upper hand here and win it.
