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Birmingham logo
Championship | Gameweek 39
Jun 27, 2020 at 3pm UK
St. Andrew's Stadium
Hull logo

Birmingham
3 - 3
Hull City

Gardner (47', 88'), Crowley (60')
Gardner (45'), Clarke-Salter (66'), Dean (76')
FT(HT: 0-2)
Magennis (2'), Scott (16'), Kane (67')

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

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Birmingham City and Hull City, including team news and predicted lineups.

Hull City will be looking to put an end to a disastrous six-match losing run when they travel to Birmingham City in Saturday's Championship clash.

The Tigers have failed to win any of their last 12 league matches and are now in the relegation zone, while Birmingham are seven points better off in 16th after struggling for wins themselves.


Match preview

A general shot of the West Bromwich Albion vs. Birmingham game on June 20, 2020© Reuters

Not since New Year's Day, when overcoming Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at Hillsborough to make it back-to-back victories, have Hull collected all three points from a game.

That most recent win almost half a year ago lifted Hull into eighth place, one point off the playoffs.

Incredibly, they have taken only two points from a possible 36 since then - and none from the last 15 on offer - to fall down the division.

Last weekend's clash with Charlton Athletic was rightly billed as a six-pointer, with the Addicks also out of form and in desperate need of a victory from somewhere.

It was Charlton who came out on top at the KCOM Stadium thanks to Jason Pearce's first-half goal, meaning that Hull slipped into the dropzone for the first time this season.

Grant McCann now has eight games to save his side, and the good news for the Tigers is that the bottom half of the division remains incredibly tight.

Victory against Birmingham this weekend and Hull could potentially climb up to 17th. Another defeat, though, and the gap on safety may well widen.

Mallik Wilks celebrates equalising for Hull City on February 8, 2020© Reuters

The Blues may not be at immediate threat of relegation, largely thanks to a three-match winning run in February, but they still have work to do to make certain of safety.

Pep Clotet's men are 16th and seven points above the dotted line after losing just one of their last 12 matches, a run that included a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion in their first game back.

There have been a further six draws during that run, though, which has ultimately cost the Blues any chance of making a late charge for the playoff spots.

With City announcing during lockdown that boss Clotet will move on in the summer, the club are already in a position to think about next season.

Ending 2019-20 on a high will be the aim for Birmingham, of course, and they have a good chance to put three more points on the board this weekend.

Only once in their last 14 home meetings with Hull have the Blues tasted defeat - 3-2 in November 2012 - and the home side has won seven of the last eight league encounters.

Birmingham's Championship form: DDDDLD

Hull's Championship form: DLLLLL


Team News

Birmingham City midfielder Jude Bellingham pictured in October 2019© Reuters

Hull are without Eric Lichaj, Jackson Irvine and Stephen Kingsley for the rest of the season as their contracts have not been renewed, while loanee Marcus Maddison has returned to Peterborough United.

Josh Magennis is pushing for a recall after making an impression from the bench against Charlton, which could mean Tom Eaves - one goal in nine games for him - making way.

McCann does otherwise have a clean bill of health, however, with Mallik Wilks also available for selection again after extending his loan stay from Barnsley.

The hosts are without centre-back Marc Roberts and defensive midfielder Ivan Sunjic for this game, while left-back Kristian Pedersen is also nursing an injury.

Jude Bellingham has attracted plenty of interest from European clubs in recent weeks and looks set to start in midfield.

Jeremie Bela came on for Bellingham in the goalless draw with leaders West Brom last weekend and may have done enough to earn a place in Clotet's starting lineup here.

Birmingham possible starting lineup:
Camp; Colin, Dean, Clarke-Salter, Harding; Crowley, Kieftenbeld, Bellingham, Bela; Hogan, Jutkiewicz

Hull possible starting lineup:
Long; Pennington, Wijs, MacDonald, Elder; Bowler, Stewart, Kane, Wilks; Toral; Magennis


Sports Mole Logo

We say: Birmingham 2-0 Hull

The last nine meetings between Birmingham and Hull have produced 36 goals at an average of four a game. The Tigers were 3-0 winners in December's reverse fixture but have struggled badly pretty much ever since, and we cannot see past a home win this weekend.



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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 43.54%. A win for Hull City had a probability of 30.72% and a draw had a probability of 25.7%.

The most likely scoreline for a Birmingham City win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.26%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.99%) and 2-0 (7.54%). The likeliest Hull City win was 0-1 (8.33%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.23%). The actual scoreline of 3-3 was predicted with a 1% likelihood.


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Jackson Irvine celebrates scoring for Hull City on May 5, 2019
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CLeicester CityLeicester463141189414897
3Leeds UnitedLeeds462791081433890
4Southampton462691187632487
5West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom4621121370472375
6Norwich CityNorwich4621101579641573
7Hull City461913146860870
8Middlesbrough46209177162969
9Coventry CityCoventry4617131670591164
10Preston North EndPreston46189195667-1163
11Bristol City461711185351262
12Cardiff CityCardiff46195225370-1762
13Millwall461611194555-1059
14Swansea CitySwansea461512195965-657
15Watford461317166161056
16Sunderland46168225254-256
17Stoke CityStoke461511204960-1156
18Queens Park RangersQPR461511204758-1156
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn461411216074-1453
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds46158234468-2453
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth461312215970-1151
RBirmingham CityBirmingham461311225065-1550
RHuddersfield TownHuddersfield46918194877-2945
RRotherham UnitedRotherham46512293789-5227


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