Birmingham City and Walsall commence their EFL Trophy campaign with a showdown at St Andrew's on Tuesday evening.
These two teams feature in Group A in the Southern section with fixtures against Fulham Under-21s and Shrewsbury Town also on their schedules.
Match preview
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While Birmingham have not exactly set the world alight during the opening weeks of the campaign, they still sit joint-top of the League One table.
A total of 10 points have been accumulated from a possible 12, the 1-1 draw with Reading coming on the first weekend of the campaign when they performed below par.
Since then, each of their three victories in the league have either come by 2-1 or 3-2 scorelines, highlighting that Blues remain very much a work in progress under Chris Davies.
Last time out, Birmingham recorded a 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic at St Andrew's, Scott Wright netting the decisive goal in the 90th minute.
Birmingham will now turn their attention to this competition where they will sense an opportunity to reach a Wembley final if they can successfully rotate their squad.
As far as Walsall are concerned, they have been terrific under Matt Sadler this season, their only defeat in six games coming by a 1-0 scoreline at Tranmere Rovers.
The Saddlers still sit in second position in the League Two standings, winning their other three matches, while they have also reached the EFL Cup third round.
Coming back from two goals down to defeat League One outfit Huddersfield in a 3-2 triumph is their highlight of 2024-25 so far, but there have been signs that Sadler has every reason to expect far more as the campaign progresses.
These two West Midlands neighbours are meeting for the first time in a competitive fixture since a game in the old Division 1 back in 2001.
Team News
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Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Willum Thor Willumsson and Luke Harris are all missing from this game due to international duty.
The trio would have likely dropped out regardless with Ryan Allsop, Marc Leonard and Wright potentially being selected from the opening whistle.
Ben Davies and Ayumu Yokoyama are also in line to earn minutes in defence and on the flank respectively.
Oisin McEntee, Liam Gordon and Josh Gordon are all in line to miss out for Walsall due to injuries sustained against Cheltenham.
With Priestley Farquharson and Albert Adomah also on the sidelines, Sadler may be prepared to go with just three outfield changes.
Harry Williams, Jack Earing and Nathan Lowe could all come into the team, but loanee George Hall will not be able to face his parent club.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Laird, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane; Leonard, Gardner-Hickman, Paik; Wright, May, Yokoyama
Walsall possible starting lineup:
Hornby; Williams, Okagbue, Earing; Barrett, Jellis, Stirk, Lakin, Allen; Gordon, Lowe
We say: Birmingham City 3-1 Walsall
With Walsall not possessing the same strength in depth as their hosts, Blues are heavy favourites for this contest. Although the visitors may get on the scoresheet, we are backing the League One outfit to come through in comfortable fashion.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Darren Plant
