Huddersfield Town host Birmingham City at John’s Smith Stadium in a blockbuster clash in the fight for Championship survival.
Victory would see Huddersfield climb out of the relegation zone and up to 21st position if Sheffield Wednesday lose at home to West Brom.
Defeat combined with at least a draw for Sheffield Wednesday would see Huddersfield relegated to League One, although in the event that they draw then they will go down if Plymouth avoid a loss and Sheffield Wednesday win.
Birmingham meanwhile will climb out of the bottom three with a win and go as high as 19th, but defeat coupled with wins or draws for Blackburn, Plymouth and Sheffield Wednesday would see them relegated.
Team News
Tom Lees is ruled out of Huddersfield’s last two matches of the season, having suffered a knee injury during their defeat to Swansea.
Kian Harratt (suspension), Jonathan Hogg (shoulder), Radinio Balker (thigh), Yuta Nakayama (knee) and Josh Ruffels (groin) remain absent.
Birmingham will be without Oliver Burke after the winger suffered a hamstring injury in their goalless draw at Rotherham.
Lukas Jutkiewicz (knee) could return but Alfie Chang (ACL) remains sidelined.
When is Kick-Off?
Huddersfield host Birmingham at John’s Smith Stadium on Saturday 27 April at 3pm BST, untelevised live in the UK.
Stat Attack
- Huddersfield are unbeaten in four of their last seven meetings against Birmingham (W2, D2, L3).
- Birmingham are winless in their last seven visits to Huddersfield in all competitions (D6, L1).
- Five of the last seven meetings between Huddersfield and Birmingham at John Smith’s Stadium have ended in a 1-1 draw.
- No Huddersfield player has been involved in more league goals this season than Sorba Thomas (four goals + nine assists)
- Birmingham have failed to win any of their four previous away trips to Yorkshire-based clubs this season (D2, L2).
Prediction
Knowing that anything but a win could well see them down, Huddersfield have to play much better than they did against Swansea and not just implode if concede first because they have to be more clinical and cool if want a result here.
Birmingham meanwhile did well to grind out a goalless draw at Rotherham and a repeat result would surely keep their survival chances alive, but their defence seems more solid with clean sheets in their last two games but they could do with scoring here to take a huge step towards safety.
Nerves though will be palpable amongst both teams and sets of fans so this could well be cagey and given how recent clashes here have gone, another draw could be on the cards even if Huddersfield need luck to swing their way in that scenario to stay alive into the final day.
Prediction: Huddersfield 0-0 Birmingham City
Result: Huddersfield 1-1 Birmingham City
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