In their second match in as many days, West Bromwich Albion will face Birmingham City at St Andrew's @ Knighthood Park Stadium on Saturday, just a day after taking on Cambridge United.
The hosts have enjoyed a positive pre-season, losing two and winning four of their matches, while the visitors have lost three and won one of their four games to date.
Match preview
© Reuters
Last season saw West Brom come as close to promotion back to the Premier League as they have since their relegation in 2020-21, finishing fifth in the league before losing 3-1 on aggregate to eventual playoff winners Southampton in the semi-final.
Carlos Corberan, who has been in charge at the Hawthorns since October 2022, will be aiming to go all the way in the upcoming campaign and take his side back to the top flight.
However, their pre-season campaign has been far from the ideal preparation as the Baggies have lost three of their four matches played so far, suffering defeats to Bolton Wanderers, Blackpool and RCD Mallorca, and only narrowly beating Peterborough United 2-1.
Ahead of their opening Championship match against Queens Park Rangers, West Brom will face two friendlies in two days, travelling to The Cledara Abbey Stadium to play Cambridge United on Friday before playing Birmingham on Saturday.
As for the hosts, Saturday's match will be their final pre-season fixture as they gear up for their first campaign in the third tier of English football in 29 years.
Despite starting 2023-24 in fantastic fashion, sitting sixth in the table after 11 outings, Birmingham's new American ownership group made the bizarre decision to sack John Eustace in favour of Wayne Rooney.
That decision proved costly for the Blues with Rooney winning twice during his 15 matches in charge, and Birmingham never recovered as they finished 22nd in the league.
They have made a number of notable signings in an attempt to earn promotion in their first attempt, and their pre-season has certainly gone to plan with four back-to-back wins coming into their final friendly.
Birmingham kicked off pre-season with a 5-0 loss to SC Paderborn 07 before bouncing back with a 3-0 win against Solihull Moors, 2-0 against Shrewsbury Town, 2-1 against Rangers and 1-0 against Walsall, suffering their second defeat to Aldershot Town on the same day.
- L
- W
- W
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- L
- L
Team News
Birmingham's squad were split across two matches last Saturday, half facing up against Walsall and the other half coming up against Aldershot, but Chris Davies should have the full squad to choose from for this one.
New signing Bailey Peacock-Farrell is expected to start in goal, while Christoph Klarer and Willum Thor Willumsson - signings that saw Birmingham break the League One transfer record twice in 24 hours signing - are both also likely to play.
As for West Brom, with a game against Cambridge United taking place just a day prior, their lineup for this one is hard to predict.
Brandon Thomas-Asante has showcased his talent throughout a difficult pre-season for West Brom, and could start up front in this one.
Summer signings Paddy McNair and Ousmane Diakite could also make an appearance for the visitors in their final friendly fixture.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Peacock-Farrell; Laird, Klarer, Sanderson, Cochrane; Seung-ho, James; Miyoshi, Willumsson, Dembele; May
West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Palmer; Furlong, Bartley, McNair, Townsend; Mowatt, Diakite; Wallace, Swift, Grant; Thomas-Asante
We say: Birmingham City 1-1 West Bromwich Albion
Birmingham have enjoyed a better pre-season than their visitors so far, but West Brom boast a higher level of quality throughout their squad, suggesting this one will end in a draw.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
