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Attendance: 19,525
Birmingham logo
Championship | Gameweek 37
Mar 7, 2020 at 3pm UK
 
Reading logo

1-3

Hogan (6')
FT(HT: 1-0)
Miazga (52'), Meite (56'), Pele (87')

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

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

Birmingham City will be looking to stretch their unbeaten run of form in the Championship to 11 matches when they welcome Reading to St Andrew's on Saturday afternoon.

The Blues have not lost in the league since New Year's Day, although they remain 15th in the table, two points and one position above Reading ahead of this weekend's contest.


Match preview

Birmingham boss Pep Clotet on February 1, 2020© Reuters

Birmingham had a rotten end to 2019 as they lost four of their final five league matches, but the Blues are unbeaten in the Championship since Wigan Athletic beat them on New Year's Day.

Indeed, the Blues have won four and drawn six of their last 10 in England's second tier, including draws in their last four against Brentford, Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall and Queens Park Rangers.

Pep Clotet's side are probably too far away from the playoffs - nine points - to be considered genuine contenders for a top-six finish although stranger things have certainly happened.

Birmingham have also won their last three Championship matches with Reading, including a 3-2 success when they travelled to the Madejski Stadium for the reverse fixture towards the start of December.

Clotet's side will enter this match off the back of a defeat, though, having lost 1-0 at Leicester City in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Wednesday night.

Reading manager Mark Bowen on February 15, 2020© Reuters

Reading were also in FA Cup action earlier this week, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United after extra time to miss out on the chance to make the quarter-finals of the competition.

The Royals did record a 2-0 win over Barnsley in their last league match, though, and also impressively beat Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 on their travels in the middle of last month.

As mentioned, Reading are currently 16th in the Championship table, nine points clear of the bottom three.

They are not really in danger of dropping into a relegation battle but are 11 points off the playoffs, indicating that Mark Bowen's side do not have an awful lot to play for as the season heads for its final straight.

Birmingham Championship form: WWDDDD
Birmingham form (all competitions): WDDDDL

Reading Championship form: DLWLLW
Reading form (all competitions): LWLLWL


Team News

Jude Bellingham in action for Birmingham City on August 31, 2019© Reuters

Jude Bellingham was not involved against Leicester during the week due to fatigue, but the 16-year-old is set to return to the Birmingham squad for this weekend's contest.

Clotet shuffled his pack for the clash with the Foxes, but there are expected to be changes for this match, with Gary Gardner being tipped to return to the middle of the park.

Scott Hogan and Lukas Jutkiewicz should continue as the front two, but Jeremie Bela, Josh McEachran, Jacques Maghoma and David Stockdale are still on the treatment table.

As for Reading, Chris Gunter, Lucas Boye, Tom McIntyre and Lucas Joao remain on the sidelines.

Bowen's side did not pick up any fresh concerns from their clash with Sheffield United, though, and there are not expected to be many changes from the match against the Blades.

George Puscas was again on the scoresheet against Chris Wilder's side and should again lead the line, although Pele is pushing for a spot in midfield having recovered from injury.

Birmingham possible starting lineup:
Camp; Colin, Roberts, Dean, Pedersen; Bellingham, Gardner, Sunjic, Crowley; Hogan, Jutkiewicz

Reading possible starting lineup:
Rafael; Yiadom, Miazga, Morrison, Obita; Meite, Rinomhota, Swift, Ejaria, Olise; Puscas


Sports Mole Logo

We say: Birmingham 1-1 Reading

This match has a draw written all over it. The table suggests that there is not too much between the two teams in terms of quality, and Birmingham have very much been the draw specialists in 2020.



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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 win with a probability of 49.4%. A win for had a probability of 25.54% and a draw had a probability of 25.1%.

The most likely scoreline for a win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.17%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.45%) and 2-0 (8.86%). The likeliest win was 0-1 (7.51%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (11.91%).


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Jude Bellingham in action for Birmingham City on August 31, 2019
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Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Birmingham CityBirmingham1292123111229
2Wycombe WanderersWycombe1282226161026
3Wrexham1374221101125
4Mansfield TownMansfield127322014624
5Lincoln CityLincoln137332016424
6Bolton WanderersBolton137242219323
7Huddersfield TownHuddersfield137151912722
8Barnsley136432118322
9Reading137152120122
10Stockport CountyStockport135622012821
11Exeter CityExeter126151310319
12Charlton AthleticCharlton135441514119
13Peterborough UnitedPeterborough145362526-118
14Rotherham UnitedRotherham144551416-217
15Stevenage145271015-517
16Blackpool134452125-416
17Bristol Rovers135171520-516
18Northampton TownNorthampton134361720-315
19Wigan AthleticWigan133551211114
20Leyton Orient133281118-711
21Cambridge UnitedCambridge123181117-610
22Crawley TownCrawley133191225-1310
23Shrewsbury TownShrewsbury1422101325-128
24Burton Albion120481325-124


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