Birmingham City and Blackpool both head into Saturday's Championship fixture at St Andrew's looking to end their recent winless streaks.
While 11th-placed Blackpool are without a victory in four games, Blues are down in 17th position after failing to prevail in any of their last three fixtures.
Match preview
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Having posted three successive wins ahead of a favourable triple-header, Lee Bowyer would have been optimistic about his Birmingham side making a move into the top half of the table.
However, consecutive defeats to Reading and Hull City halted their momentum, heaping the pressure back on Blues ahead of their Midlands derby at Coventry City earlier this week.
Bowyer will be relatively satisfied with a goalless draw at the Sky Blues, particularly having had to play the closing stages with 10 men.
Nevertheless, Birmingham find themselves in a position where they are placed equally between the playoffs and the relegation zone, leaving their campaign at a crossroads.
Despite winning two of their last three fixtures at St Andrew's, Birmingham still possess the sixth-worst home record in the division.
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After going four games without success, there will be those who will claim that Blackpool's strong start to the season is beginning to peter out.
However, two of those games ended in draws against Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion, results which have kept the Tangerines ticking over in mid-table.
Still sitting just four points adrift of the playoffs, Neil Critchley will be happy enough with his team's standing in the table, but he knows that they need to find an extra gear heading into the Christmas period.
The goals have dried up in the most recent five games with each of the Seasiders' three strikes all coming during the second halves of matches.
On a positive note, they end the year with six favourable games, and achieving 10 points or more will keep Blackpool as dark horses for the top six.
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Team News
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Ryan Woods has joined Gary Gardner on the sidelines for Blues after picking up a late red card at Coventry.
Given Birmingham's injury list, Riley McGree may have to drop into a deeper position, with Jeremie Bela a candidate to move into a wide position further forward.
Much will depend on whether Marcel Oakley shakes off a knock, but Chelsea loanee Juan Familia-Castillo will hope for a start in one of the wing-back positions.
Critchley will give consideration to sticking with the Blackpool XI which started the goalless draw with West Brom.
Jerry Yates is most likely to be handed a recall, potentially in place of Shayne Lavery who has only recently returned from an injury which kept him on the sidelines for six weeks.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Sarkic; Sanderson, Roberts, Dean; Oakley, McGree, Sunjic, Familia-Castillo; Hogan, Deeney, Bela
Blackpool possible starting lineup:
Grimshaw; Lawrence-Gabriel; Ekpiteta, Husband, James; Bowler, Wintle, Dougall, Anderson; Madine, Yates
We say: Birmingham City 0-1 Blackpool
Neither team have found the back of the net on a regular basis of late, and it feels a near certainty that this contest will be decided by one strike. Given their better position in the table, we are going to side with the visitors to net a late winner.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Blackpool win with a probability of 38.6%. A win for Birmingham City had a probability of 33.31% and a draw had a probability of 28.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a Blackpool win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.03%) and 0-2 (7.23%). The likeliest Birmingham City win was 1-0 (10.8%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.17%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 10.8% likelihood.
