Birmingham are defying pre-season predictions of relegation and showing the Championship they are a hard matchup for any side in the division after a spell which leaves them in touching distance of the top six.
Sunderland have stuttered after a very promising start to the season and could struggle to handle an energetic home side buoyed by the return of Bielik on Friday night.
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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 Sunderland win with a probability of 41.65%. A win for Birmingham City had a probability of 31.07% and a draw had a probability of 27.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Sunderland win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.68%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.53%) and 0-2 (7.73%). The likeliest Birmingham City win was 1-0 (9.75%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.89%). The actual scoreline of 1-2 was predicted with an 8.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Sunderland would win this match.
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