Birmingham City host West Bromwich Albion at St Andrew’s in a West Midlands derby in this season’s Sky Bet Championship.
Victory could see Birmingham climb as high as 15th in the table, whilst West Brom can go fifth with a win.
Team News
George Hall is set to return for Birminingham City after recovering from successive calf and hamstring injuries.
Troy Deeney (thigh) and Harlee Dean (calf) could also be in contention but Reda Khadra is a doubt with a minor hamstring issue.
Marc Roberts (hamstring) remains absent.
West Brom could welcome Kyle Bartley back into contention following his recovery from a foot injury.
Matt Phillips (quad) and Kean Bryan (knee) remain absent
When is Kick-Off?
Birmingham City host West Brom in Friday Night Football at St Andrew’s on Friday 10 February in a 8pm GMT kick-off, live on Sky Sports
Stat Attack
- Birmingham City are unbeaten in four of their last seven meetings against West Brom (W2, D2, L3).
- West Brom are unbeaten in three of their last five league visits to Birmingham City (W2, D1, L2).
- Birmingham are looking to win three consecutive games against West Brom for first time since March 1998 – March 1999.
- Three of Birmingham’s last five league goals at home were scored before half-time.
- West Brom have kept just one clean sheet in their last seven away matches in all competitions (W3, D1, L3).
Prediction
Sat 18th but just nine points off the play-off spots, Birmingham now need to take heart from last weekend’s positive comeback victory at Swansea in which they were clinical on the attack but need to tighten up defensively if want a second consecutive win.
West Brom meanwhile produced a resilient yet clinical performance to scrape past Coventry last weekend and following Carlos Corberan’s decision to extend his contract, I do expect the Baggies to be right up for this derby.
A goalless draw therefore feels unlikely but if West Brom continue to display defensive resilience, I can see Birmingham having difficulty breaking them down whilst trying to keep their own defence tightened up which could well mean a tight contest.
Deeney’s return though will give the hosts additional confidence going into this match that they certainly should get at least a draw, which I wouldn’t be surprised to see happen if both teams bring their best quality.
Prediction: Birmingham City 1-1 WBA
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