Aiming to continue their unbeaten spell at the start of the new third-tier season, Birmingham City will welcome Wigan Athletic to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for a League One clash on Saturday afternoon.
Blues were in action against Premier League opposition in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night, whilst the Latics have enjoyed a full week to prepare for a trip to the Second City this weekend.
Match preview
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After navigating the first four matches of their competitive 2024-25 schedule unbeaten, Birmingham City suffered defeat for the first time under the reign of Chris Davies on Tuesday night, when Premier League Fulham visited St Andrew's and booked their spot in the third round of the EFL Cup.
Following a contentious awarding of a penalty due to an apparent handball from Alex Cochrane, Raul Jimenez coolly slotted the top-tier Cottagers ahead inside the opening 10 minutes in the Second City, before Jay Stansfield came back to haunt Blues, doubling the visitors' lead with a composed finish past Ryan Allsopp.
Despite plying their trade two divisions below Marco Silva's men, Birmingham dominated the ball on Tuesday night and will be pleased with certain aspects of their play, although clear there was clear lack of end product against a side boasting Joachim Andersen and Jorge Cuenca as their centre-back pairing.
Focusing on League One matters, Blues will be striving to make it three straight victories in the third tier following a pair of away successes at Wycombe Wanderers and Leyton Orient over the past fortnight, matches in which Davies's troops averaged 67% possession, highlighting the team's philosophy since the arrival of the former Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach.
Netting a goal in each of the opening three matches of Birmingham's League One campaign, Alfie May is unsurprisingly leading his side's Golden Boot race as the first international break of the campaign approaches, with the 31-year-old striking fear into even the sternest of third-tier defences.
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After back-to-back defeats against Charlton Athletic and Reading to commence their 2024-25 itinerary on a negative note, Wigan Athletic collected their maiden points of the League One term last Saturday, when newly-promoted Crawley Town visited The Brick Community Stadium.
Enjoying just 27% possession against the forward-thinking Red Devils, it was by no means a classic home performance from the Latics, although they managed to earn maximum points from the contest, with a first-half own goal from Crawley's Joy Mukena proving to be the only decisive moment of the game.
With Shaun Maloney's side failing to celebrate a goal in League One at any other point so far this campaign, Wigan join recently-relegated Rotherham United as the only team in the division who are yet to have a third-tier goalscorer in their ranks, a statistic that does not bode well ahead of a trip to the title favourites this weekend.
Despite an eight-point deduction from the EFL last season, the Latics still managed to comfortably avoid a relegation dogfight in League One, finishing 18 points clear of 21st-placed Cheltenham Town and only 14 points behind Barnsley, who secured the lowest of the playoff spots.
Visiting supporters will take confidence from their side's recent record at St Andrew's ahead of this weekend, with Wigan currently four games unbeaten on the blue side of the Second City, with a Nathan Broadhead effort securing three points during the Latics' most recent trip to St Andrew's in August 2022.
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Team News
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Dropping down to the bench as Allsopp carried out his cup duties on Tuesday night, Bailey Peacock-Farrell will return in between the sticks for Birmingham on Saturday.
With Dion Sanderson still sidelined due to an unspecified injury, captain Krystian Bielik and Christoph Klarer should continue as the centre-back pairing.
Joining from Queens Park Rangers earlier in the week, Lyndon Dykes could make his Blues debut on the weekend, although the Scotland international is highly unlikely to take May's starting spot anytime soon.
Keeping his first clean sheet of the campaign last time out despite plenty of Crawley pressure, Sam Tickle will remain in goal for visitors Wigan.
Regardless of their inability to find the net against the Red Devils, the Latics are set to stick with Joe Hugill as their central striker.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Peacock-Farrell; Laird, Klarer, Bielik, Cochrane; Paik, Leonard, Anderson, Harris, Hansson; May
Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:
Tickle; Carragher, Kerr, Aimson, Chambers; Adeeko, Smith, Rankine, Aasgaard, Thomas; Hugill
We say: Birmingham City 1-0 Wigan Athletic
Birmingham have dominated proceedings in their League One matches so far this season, although that level of control has not always led to an abundance of clear-cut chances.
We expect that theme to continue against a stubborn Wigan side on Saturday afternoon, when Blues should eventually find a way to break down the Latics and claim maximum points.
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