Both sides had high pre-season expectations with completely different outcomes.

Unsurprisingly, Aston Villa dominate the comparison in statistics between the two sides. The Blues aren't helped by the fact that they have had three permanent managers this season with the latest one, Garry Monk, being most successful. They have a promising future under him, but the job isn't done this season because he has to make sure that they don't get relegated on the last day.

Both sides spent heavily in the summer with Steve Bruce and Harry Redknapp given significant backing. However, Villa's signings were a lot more useful as can be seen in the statistics.

Villa have averaged double the amount of goals that Birmingham have, which hints at the main issue for the Blues. They have only scored 35 league goals this season which is the worst in the division. They haven't been great defensively either with the seventh worst defensive record, but a better goalscoring record wouldn't have left them in this situation.

The average possession and pass accuracy aren't too far apart, although Birmingham need to improve because 69.5% pass accuracy is poor even for teams that play direct.

Another area that Monk needs to focus on is the amount of red cards that the Blues have picked up this season. Six is a high amount and these have all come in separate matches, so that's six games which have been significantly impacted. However, they did manage to win two of those matches somehow.

The points difference sums everything up in the best way because Villa nearly have double the points of their local rivals and could achieve that based on results on the last day. Therefore, they have that to show their supremacy as well as bragging rights because they won one game against the Blues with the reverse fixture being a draw.

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