Birmingham City welcome Fulham to St Andrew’s Stadium in a huge Sky Bet Championship clash.
Victory could put Birmingham as high as third depending on results elsewhere, whereas Fulham can go top with a win.
Team News
Birmingham have no fresh injury concerns to report but manager, Lee Bowyer could ring the changes with Troy Deeney set to start after making a substitute appearance in Friday’s win over Derby.
Ivan Sanchez (pelvis) and Adan George (knee) remain absent.
Fulham boss, Marco Silva could ring the changes with Nathaniel Chalobah and Harrison Reed amongst those chasing starts, alongside Harry Wilson who missed Saturday’s trip to Blackpool due to fatigue.
Fabio Carvalho (unspecified), Kenny Tete (hamstring) and Tom Cairney (knee) remain absent.
Stat Attack
- Birmingham have won just two of their last five league meetings against Fulham (W2, L3).
- Fulham are unbeaten in three of their last five away league visits to St Andrew’s (W2, D1, L2).
- Three of Birmingham’s last eight goals have been scored by Scott Hogan.
- Saturday’s defeat at Blackpool marked the first time that Fulham failed to score in all competitions this season.
- This is the first match this season involving both teams to be refereed by David Webb.
Prediction
Birmingham City come into this game in good form with just one league defeat this season and can take confidence from a disciplined clinical display against Derby on Friday, which will be important given Fulham’s quality.
Marco Silva however needs to quickly shake off his Cottagers’ disappointment after Saturday’s shock defeat at Blackpool, which even I wasn’t expecting because this is a strong Fulham team but Wilson and Carvalho’s absences definitely hurt their attacking threat more than anyone expected.
I however do expect a close match because Birmingham will be up for this especially if Deeney makes his first start with fans in loud spirits, whereas Fulham will be eager to deliver a reaction so we could well see a competitive game here so am going for a score draw.
Prediction: Birmingham City 1-1 Fulham
Result: Birmingham City 1-4 Fulham