Bentley to make immediate Birmingham impact with Villa goal
Published:David Bentley has an immediate chance to endear himself to Birmingham fans by scoring against bitter rivals Aston Villa after completing his loan switch for the remainder of the campaign from Tottenham.
Bentley has signed at St Andrew’s for six months in a bid to resurrect his career after falling into the wilderness at Tottenham and seeing his first-team opportunities limited.
His first game for Birmingham is the biggest of the Midlands derbies and Bentley is 4/1 in the Premier League betting to score at any time within the 90 minutes.
However, it is Bentley’s ability from wide positions rather than his goals that have caused Birmingham to move for his services.
Therefore, the better bet may be on Bentley inspiring Birmingham to victory and they are 6/4 to claim a home triumph over Aston Villa, as they did in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup earlier this season.
Spurs boss Harry Redknapp said: “He could move on and do a fantastic job – that’s my honest opinion.
“He can cross it, he can score goals, and he can pick a pass. He’s got no real pace. He is similar to David Beckham in lots of ways, he’s got that unbelievable delivery of the ball.”
However, Aston Villa may be the ones to benefit if Birmingham do select Bentley as he has only ever been on the winning team once against them in eight career games.
Aston Villa’s betting odds are 9/5 to beat Birmingham and they had won on their last three visits to St Andrew’s prior to their Carling Cup defeat last month.
A £25 bet on the scorecast of Birmingham beating Aston Villa 1-0 and Bentley getting the only goal could see a return of £1500. New Ladbrokes customers can sign up here for a free £25 bet.
