Birmingham vs West Brom tips and predictions: Blues to extend unbeaten home record

Birmingham City and West Brom will kick off another exhilirating Championship weekend with a Midlands derby on Friday night.

Suggested bets

Birmingham City win to nil

Both teams to score: No

Under 2.5 goals

Birmingham vs West Brom team news

Birmingham will be without the injured quintet of George Hall, Ethan Laird, Tyler Roberts, Keshi Anderson and Lee Buchanan.

Joint top scorer Siriki Dembele found the net twice on Tuesday and will continue alongside Koji Miyoshi, Juninho Bacuna and Jay Stansfield in attack.

Adam Reach, Daryl Dike, Josh Maja and Jeremy Sarmiento are unavailable for the visitors.

Brandon Thomas-Asante is the only fit forward and will start again with Jed Wallace and top scorer John Swift behind him.

Birmingham vs West Brom verdict

Birmingham are struggling for form with just one win in six outings, but it’s worth noting their three defeats all came away from home.

John Eustance’s side have yet to taste defeat at St Andrew’s where they’ve beaten Huddersfield, Plymouth and Leeds.

West Brom have gone well since an opening day defeat against Blackburn. The Baggies are unbeaten in eight of nine and each of their last five.

The most pleasing aspect for Carlos Corberan will be keeping four clean sheets in five and dominating the possession and chances in each of those games.

Both sides have played out cagey draws against Millwall recently, while the hosts struggled to find a way through QPR in a 0-0 draw.

At least one side has been shut out in five of the last six meetings, with both sides winning to nil on two occasions. 

Although the visitors may be averaging 1.70 goals per game this season, which is the fifth best ratio in the league, it’s safe to assume this will be a cagey affair early on.

That can always set an underlying tone of fear and avoidance from the players, so perhaps it’s more relevant to consider each side are averaging a goal per game against.

Birmingham’s 1-0 win over Leeds demonstrated they’re more than capable of setting up to successfully stifle a side used to dominating the ball.

This game could swing either way, but the Championship has a habit of bringing you back down to earth. West Brom are limited in attack so the Blues could frustrate them and pinch it.