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Championship | Gameweek 8

Oct 28, 2020 at 7.45pm UK

St. Andrew's Stadium

Birmingham
2 - 1
Huddersfield

Gardner (27'), Jutkiewicz (90')
Sunjic (35'), San Jose (75')

FT(HT: 1-0)

Mbenza (85')
Diakhaby (19')

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

By Darren Plant, Senior Reporter | 26 October 2020

Sports Mole previews Wednesday's Championship fixture between Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town, including team news and predicted lineups.

Birmingham City welcome Huddersfield Town to St Andrew's on Wednesday evening looking to end a six-match winless streak in the Championship.

Meanwhile, the Terriers make the trip to the West Midlands having had their recent strong run ended with a home defeat against Preston North End.

Match preview

Birmingham City manager Aitor Karanka pictured on October 4, 2020 © Reuters

When Birmingham edged out Brentford on the opening day of the campaign, supporters were in full support of newly-appointed head coach Aitor Karanka.

However, six matches without success and just two goals being added in the final third have left the Spaniard under pressure to set up his Blues XI in a different way.

Although Karanka will argue that four draws from the most recent period have kept the club away from the relegation zone, fans are quickly losing patience with the lack of attacking threat.

Birmingham have now gone just under 300 minutes without finding the back of the net, leaving only Wycombe Wanderers with a lower return in front of goal.

Huddersfield also have an average record when it comes to delivering an end product with just six strikes coming from their seven fixtures.

Unlike Birmingham, though, three wins have been posted, handing them a three-point advantage over their next opponents ahead of Wednesday's encounter.

Ten points had been registered from a possible 12 before Saturday's home defeat to Preston, who prevailed thanks to Alan Browne's double early in the second half.

Despite that streak being brought to a halt, Carlos Corberan will be delighted with how his players have adapted to his style of play after a slow start.

The former Leeds United coach will want to see more contributions from his forward players with Fraizer Campbell sitting on his own at the top of the scoring charts with just two goals.

Birmingham City Championship form: DDDLLD

Huddersfield Town Championship form: LWDWWL

Team News

Christopher Schindler in action for Huddersfield Town on October 26, 2019 © Reuters

Huddersfield could switch back to a four-man backline with Naby Sarr sitting out the game through suspension.

Richard Stearman and Christopher Schindler should rekindle their partnership in the centre, while Adama Diakhaby is a likely inclusion on one of the flanks.

Karanka is expected to hand a recall to Lukas Jutkiewicz, who was only named as a substitute on his return from illness at the weekend.

Adam Clayton is still missing for Birmingham due to the ban that he picked up for his dismissal against Norwich City.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Etheridge; Friend, Dean, Roberts; Colin, Gardner, Sunjic, San Jose, Pedersen; Hogan, Jutkiewicz

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Hamer; Pipa, Stearman, Schindler, Toffolo; Eiting, Hogg; Bacuna, O'Brien, Diakhaby; Campbell

SM words green background

We say: Birmingham City 1-1 Huddersfield Town

Everything points to this contest lacking in goals and entertainment. While Karanka is coming under increasing pressure to show more ambition in the final third, he may have to settle for a share of the spoils against opponents who have improved in recent weeks.

Top betting tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a double chance bet on a home win or draw in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.

Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Birmingham City win with a probability of 43.18%. A win for Huddersfield Town had a probability of 30.09% and a draw had a probability of 26.7%.

The most likely scoreline for a Birmingham City win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.43%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.78%) and 2-0 (7.92%). The likeliest Huddersfield Town win was 0-1 (9.16%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.68%). The actual scoreline of 2-1 was predicted with an 8.8% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Birmingham City would win this match.