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Birmingham logo
Championship | Gameweek 11
Oct 6, 2023 at 8pm UK
St. Andrew's Stadium
West Brom logo

Birmingham
3 - 1
West Brom

Bacuna (23' pen.), Sanderson (38'), Gardner (87')
Bielik (25'), Longelo (90+4')
FT(HT: 2-1)
Swift (5')
Kipre (86')

Preview: Birmingham City vs. West Bromwich Albion - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Friday's Championship clash between Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Birmingham City and West Bromwich Albion square off on Friday evening with both clubs having the opportunity to strengthen their promotion bid.

Each of the West Midlands outfits have moved themselves into the top half of the Championship table in recent weeks, collecting 15 and 16 points from their 10 matches thus far.


Match preview

Birmingham City's manager John Eustace on September 22, 2023© Reuters

Over the past few months, John Eustace has had to encounter the uncertainty that is associated with club takeovers and speculation regarding potential interest from Rangers.

However, the local-born Birmingham boss is committed to the cause at St Andrew's, even though a five-game winless streak has undone their early results in the second tier during 2023-24.

Losing at Norwich City on Saturday represented a third defeat in four match, but Blues responded with an emphatic 4-1 triumph over Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night.

Prior to that game, Birmingham had not scored four times in a Championship fixture since the beginning of February, so Eustace will hope that his attackers have turned the corner in that respect.

The win also extended Birmingham's unbeaten home record in the league this season to five games, conceding just three goals in the process.

West Bromwich Albion's Alex Mowatt celebrates scoring their second goal on September 30, 2023© Reuters

At a time when Birmingham have seen matters off the pitch resolved, West Brom find themselves at the opposite end of the spectrum, hoping that a new owner is found as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, despite the uncertainty, Carlos Corberan has steadied the ship and seen his team catapult themselves into promotion contention with a five-match unbeaten run.

After three draws in succession, the Baggies have recorded victories over Preston North End and Sheffield Wednesday, the former against one of the in-form teams coming by a 4-0 scoreline.

West Brom also have four clean sheets in five outings and have lost just twice in 10 games, while just five goals have been shipped in their five away fixtures in the Championship.

Although Leicester City and Ipswich Town are threatening to run away with the automatic promotion spots, there is scope for teams such as West Brom to cement themselves in the playoff race with a prolonged run of results coming the coming weeks.

Birmingham City Championship form:

West Bromwich Albion Championship form:


Team News

West Bromwich Albion manager Carlos Corberan on September 30, 2023© Reuters

Eustace acknowledged at the start of the week that he expects to be working with the same Birmingham squad for the Huddersfield and West Brom matches, with his injured players on the sidelines until after the international break.

That could see the same starting lineup selected for this contest, with Eustace having the luxury of resting players during the final 15 minutes against the Terriers.

Using Siriki Dembele down the centre of the attack paid off and he can expect to retain his place, as can Juninho Bacuna who was preferred on the flank to Oliver Burke.

Meanwhile, West Brom will be without Brighton & Hove Albion Jeremy Sarmiento for around a month with a muscle injury sustained at the weekend.

Changes are expected to be few and far between for this contest, Conor Townsend most likely to return to the team at left wing-back ahead of Matt Phillips.

Nathaniel Chalobah and Grady Diangana are options in midfield and a creative role should Corberan opt to introduce fresh legs into a team that is playing a third game in less than a week.


Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Drameh, Sanderson, Long, Longelo; Sunjic, Bielik; Miyoshi, Stansfield, Bacuna; Dembele

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Palmer; Kipre, Bartley, Pieters; Furlong, Yokuslu, Mowatt, Phillips; Thomas-Asante, Swift; Wallace


SM words green background

We say: Birmingham City 1-1 West Bromwich Albion

Although Birmingham have been far more inconsistent than West Brom of late, the manner of their victory on Tuesday even things up. With that in mind, we can only predict a competitive draw between two sides who back themselves to challenge for the playoffs in the long term.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:data


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Game History

How you voted: Birmingham vs West Brom

Birmingham City
36.1%
Draw
23.6%
West Bromwich Albion
40.3%
72
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Wycombe WanderersWycombe15112235181735
2Wrexham1694325111431
3Stockport CountyStockport1786329171230
4Birmingham CityBirmingham1493226151130
5Huddersfield TownHuddersfield158252315826
6Barnsley167542420426
7Lincoln CityLincoln167542320326
8Reading158252422226
9Bolton WanderersBolton158252425-126
10Mansfield TownMansfield147342016424
11Exeter CityExeter157261413123
12Peterborough UnitedPeterborough166373229321
13Bristol Rovers166371721-421
14Charlton AthleticCharlton155461617-119
15Stevenage165471116-519
16Northampton TownNorthampton164661821-318
17Wigan AthleticWigan154561312117
18Rotherham UnitedRotherham164571419-517
19Blackpool164572230-817
20Crawley TownCrawley174491527-1216
21Leyton Orient154381418-415
22Cambridge UnitedCambridge153391324-1112
23Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury1632111629-1311
24Burton Albion151591528-138


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