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Birmingham logo
League One | Gameweek 15
Nov 9, 2024 at 3pm UK
St. Andrew's Stadium
Northampton Town

Birmingham
1 - 1
Northampton

Stansfield (58')
Allsop (90+2')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Pinnock (90+6')
Guthrie (41'), McGeehan (60'), Allsop (90+1')

Preview: Birmingham City vs. Northampton Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's League One clash between Birmingham City and Northampton Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Looking to return to the summit of the third-tier standings, Birmingham City will welcome Northampton Town to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for a League One clash on Saturday afternoon.

Blues booked their spot in the second round of the FA Cup at Sutton United last weekend, whilst the Cobblers were one of the major casualties of the first round.


Match preview

Birmingham City head coach Chris Davies in September 2024.© Imago

After a frustrating share of the spoils with Mansfield Town in League One on October 26, Birmingham City have made progress in a pair of cup competitions over the past 10 days, smashing Fulham Under-21s 7-1 in the EFL Trophy before squeezing past Sutton in the FA Cup on Sunday afternoon.

In front of the TV cameras, Blues were unsurprisingly dominant against their National League opponents but could only muster up a single goal for the Bluenoses in attendance, with Iceland international Willum Willumsson finding the net in the first half to set up a second-round tie at Blackpool in December.

Whilst Birmingham have been occupied with cup action, Wycombe have stolen a march on the title favourites in the League One table, with the Chairboys moving ahead of the Second City club into top spot following a five-goal thrashing of newly-promoted Stockport County earlier in the week.

That being said, Chris Davies's troops are still four points ahead of third-placed Wrexham with a game in hand, meaning that the possibility of the West Midlands giants failing to secure an immediate return to the Championship is not a serious worry at this stage.

Northampton Town's Jon Brady pictured on August 13, 2024© Imago

For only the third time in their history, Northampton Town pitted their wits in a competitive match against local rivals Kettering Town last weekend in the FA Cup, with the non-league side producing one of the biggest upsets of the first round to knock the third-tier hosts out of the competition.

Since that humiliating defeat to Nile Ranger and company last Sunday, the Cobblers have returned to winning ways courtesy of an EFL Trophy success over Leicester City Under-21s on Tuesday night at Sixfields Stadium, where a brace from Neo Dobson secured the Southern Group F points in the second half.

Focusing on third-tier matters, it appears as if Northampton have a major job on their hands to extend their stay at this level into a third year, with Jon Brady's men currently occupying 18th in the League One standings, just four points above Crawley Town in the highest of the relegation spots.

The travelling Cobblers contingent at St Andrew's on Saturday afternoon will not be expecting much from their men considering that they have won just one of their first six League One away contests this season, with only basement dwellers Burton Albion (0) winning fewer to date.

Birmingham City League One form:


Birmingham City form (all competitions):


Northampton Town League One form:


Northampton Town form (all competitions):



Team News

Birmingham City celebrate a goal in September 2024.© Imago

Birmingham have received a major fitness boost ahead of Saturday's battle, with captain Krystian Bielik enjoying a full week of training following an ankle injury.

As a result, head coach Davies has to decide whether to bring the Pole straight back into the XI or to stick with Ben Davies alongside Christoph Klarer.

Blues are short of options on the flanks due to the absences of Scott Wright and Emil Hansson, who have been ruled out until after November's international break.

On loan from Birmingham for the 2024-25 campaign, former Leeds United man Tyler Roberts is ineligible for Northampton this weekend.

After sitting out of the FA Cup defeat to Kettering last Sunday, first-choice Lee Burge should replace Nikola Tzanev in between the sticks for this one.


Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Allsopp; Laird, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Paik, Iwata, Willumsson, May, Anderson; Stansfield

Northampton Town possible starting lineup:
Burge; Odimayo, Baldwin, Guthrie, Guinness-Walker; Hondermarck, Chouchane, Pinnock, McGeehan, Fosu; Dobson


SM words green background

We say: Birmingham City 2-0 Northampton Town

Back in League One action for the first time in two weeks, Birmingham will be raring to produce a statement performance and regain control at the top of the table.

Low on confidence following the FA Cup defeat to Kettering, we are expecting Northampton to cause the hosts little problems in the Second City this weekend.


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


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Written by
Carter White

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Game History

How you voted: Birmingham vs Northampton

Birmingham City
82.4%
Draw
11.8%
Northampton Town
5.9%
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Wycombe WanderersWycombe18124239211840
2Wrexham19124328111740
3Birmingham CityBirmingham17123232161639
4Huddersfield TownHuddersfield18112528161235
5Stockport CountyStockport1996431191233
6Reading189453025531
7Bolton WanderersBolton179352827130
8Barnsley197662725227
9Lincoln CityLincoln197662423127
10Mansfield TownMansfield177372222024
11Exeter CityExeter187381619-324
12Charlton AthleticCharlton186571819-123
13Blackpool186572631-523
14Stevenage176471316-322
15Peterborough UnitedPeterborough176383230221
16Leyton Orient186391920-121
17Bristol Rovers186391726-921
18Wigan AthleticWigan185581516-120
19Rotherham UnitedRotherham175571620-420
20Crawley TownCrawley185491728-1119
21Northampton TownNorthampton184681925-618
22Cambridge UnitedCambridge1844101829-1116
23Burton Albion1825111630-1411
24Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury1832131835-1711


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