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West Brom logo
Championship | Gameweek 38
Jun 20, 2020 at 3pm UK
The Hawthorns
Birmingham logo

West Brom
0 - 0
Birmingham


Edwards (75')
FT

Crowley (29'), Clarke-Salter (65'), Kieftenbeld (90+1')

Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs. Birmingham City - predictions, team news, lineups

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

Title-chasing West Bromwich Albion will resume their Championship campaign this weekend when they welcome Birmingham City to the Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.

Birmingham, on the other hand, will be looking to end their five-game winless run as they lie 16th at this stage of the campaign.


Match preview

West Brom boss Slaven Bilic on February 1, 2020© Reuters

West Brom lost a little bit of ground in the title race before play was brought to a halt - with Slaven Bilic's side suffering a shock defeat to Wigan Athletic before being held by Swansea in their most recent fixtures.

Leeds United took advantage of the Baggies' slip ups as they went into the coronavirus-enforced suspension at the top of the table, but Bilic's side are still in a strong position to achieve promotion back to the Premier League with 70 points from 37 matches.

Indeed, the Baggies are six points clear of third-placed Fulham, although they have only managed two wins from their last eight at the Hawthorns in the second tier - and playing in empty stadiums could potentially wipe out the home advantage.

Bilic's men were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Newcastle United at the last-16 stage, so the West Brom faithful will be eager to see their side end a three-game winless run when they return to action at the weekend.

Leeds do not resume their campaign until the day after when they travel to Cardiff City, so the Baggies can temporarily move back to the top of the rankings with a victory over Birmingham.

Birmingham boss Pep Clotet on February 1, 2020© Reuters

In contrast, Birmingham have slipped down the table after failing to win any of their last five games prior to the coronavirus postponement.

Pep Clotet was forced to witness his side succumb to a 3-1 defeat against Reading last time out - a result which followed four draws in succession in the English second tier.

The loss to Reading was actually their first defeat in the Championship since New Year's Day, but failures to convert draws into wins means that Birmingham are in a familiar position at this stage of the season.

The Blues have finished 17th or below in each of their last three Championship campaigns, but Clotet's side are on 47 points and eight clear of the relegation zone, so barring any disasters they should be safe.

West Brom took the spoils when the sides last locked horns in December, with a Charlie Austin double helping the Baggies to a 3-2 victory at St Andrew's.

West Bromwich Albion Championship form: WDWWLD
West Bromwich Albion form (all competitions): DWWLLD

Birmingham City Championship form: WDDDDL
Birmingham City form (all competitions): DDDDLL


Team News

West Bromwich Albion's Matheus Pereira celebrates scoring their second goal on November 27, 2019© Reuters

Nineteen-year-old defender Nathan Ferguson is unavailable for West Brom having undergone knee surgery, but other than that Bilic has a relatively clean bill of health heading into Saturday's fixture.

Ahmed Hegazy and Grady Diangana are both expected to make the starting lineup having shaken off hamstring injuries during the lockdown period.

As far as Birmingham are concerned, Clotet will be without Josh McEachran as the midfielder continues his recovery from an ACL injury.

Winger Jeremie Bela is also fit again having recovered from a hamstring problem, and Manchester United-linked Jude Bellingham is set to feature from the opening whistle.

Kerim Mrabti and Jacques Maghoma are set to depart at the end of the month and are not expected to play a part before their contracts expire.

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; O'Shea, Hegazy, Ajayi, Townsend; Livermore, Sawyers; Diangana, Pereira, Robinson; Robson-Kanu

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


Sports Mole Logo

We say: West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Birmingham City

West Brom will be desperate for a good result on their first game back as they look to pile the pressure on table-toppers Leeds, and we expect Bilic's men to pick up all three points in routine fashion against a Birmingham side who struggled for form before the enforced suspension.



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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 West Bromwich Albion win with a probability of 62.72%. A draw had a probability of 21.1% and a win for Birmingham City had a probability of 16.16%.

The most likely scoreline for a West Bromwich Albion win was 1-0 with a probability of 11.36%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.18%) and 2-1 (9.88%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (10.04%), while for a Birmingham City win it was 0-1 (5.1%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with a 5.8% likelihood.


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West Bromwich Albion's Jake Livermore celebrates scoring their second goal with Hal Robson-Kanu and teammates on February 25, 2020
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10Blackburn RoversBlackburn145451616019
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