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Birmingham v Maribor Odds: Blues face a must win clash at St Andrews

Birmingham face a must-win clash against Maribor in their final Group H match in the Europa League on Thursday night. The Blues need three points at St Andrews and they are 1/2 odds on to take the victory, with the draw available at 13/5, while Slovenian outfit Maribor are 9/2 to cause an upset according to Ladbrokes.

Chris Hughton's men are currently third in Group H and must beat Maribor and hope that Braga beat Club Brugge. That scenario would leave Birmingham level on ten points with Brugge and the English side have a superior head-to-head record, which would mean they progress to the knockout stages.

They take on Maribor, who are bottom of the group after picking up just one point in the group stages so far, although it is unlikely to be as straightforward a victory as Birmingham's 1/2 match odds would suggest.

Despite being excellent defensively in the Championship, Birmingham have conceded five goals in their two Europa League matches at home and have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six matches in all competitions. With that in mind it could be worth a look at the odds of 5/6 for both teams to score with Ladbrokes.

Furthermore, Ladbrokes.com offer 5/2 for both teams to score and Birmingham to win the match and that looks very tempting.

Birmingham won 2-1 when the two sides met in Slovenia earlier this season and they are 7/1 to win by the same score again. We fancy over 2.5 goals is also a decent punt at 5/6 as four of Birmingham's last five at home have involved over 2.5, as have Maribor's last seven away matches in all competitions.

Maribor are the reigning Slovenian champions and currently 15 points clear at the top of the league, with their winter break already started. Birmingham have no such luxury of a winter break and they are thirteenth in the Championship after their 2-1 win over Doncaster last time, where Marlon King grabbed both goals. King is 9/2 to be first goalscorer with Ladbrokes this week.

Maribor's Dalibor Volas could also be worth a look in the scorer markets as he has scored four goals in the Europa League this term and nine in his last nine in all competitions, with Ladbrokes going 8/1 for him to score first and 5/2 for him to score anytime.

However, Volas and his teammates are winless in their last four away matches in Europe, while Birmingham are unbeaten in their last six matches at home in all competitions. We fancy Birmingham to get the win they need and they can be backed at 5/2 to win by a margin of one goal, although whether they will qualify will depend on the match between Braga and Brugge.

Birmingham v Maribor Tips

Tip #1: Both teams to score and Birmingham to win the match @ 5/2 with Ladbrokes.com
Tip #2: Over 2.5 goals in the match @ 5/6 with Ladbrokes.com
Tip #3: Dalibor Volas to score anytime @ 5/2 with Ladbrokes.com

Birmingham v Maribor Odds

Match Odds

1/2 Birmingham
13/5 Draw
9/2 Maribor

Correct Score Odds

11/2 Birmingham 1-0
6/1 Birmingham 2-0
7/1 Birmingham 2-1
10/1 Draw 0-0
6/1 Draw 1-1
16/1 Draw 2-2
12/1 Maribor 1-0
25/1 Maribor 2-0
20/1 Maribor 2-1

First Goalscorer Odds

9/2 Chris Wood
9/2 Marlon King
5/1 Nikola Zigic
6/1 Adam Rooney
8/1 Chris Burke
9/1 Jean Beausejour
9/1 Marcos Tavares
9/1 No Goalscorer
9/1 Etien Velikonja
9/1 Dalibor Volas
10/1 Robert Beric

Odds supplied by Ladbrokes.com, who provide a variety of betting markets, including live in-running betting, for all of the week's Europa League matches.

Posted: Wednesday, 14th December 2011
Author: Chris James
Tags: europa league, birmingham city, maribor, marlon king, ladbrokes,

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