Preview: Birmingham City vs Leeds United - prediction, team news, lineups

The current champions of League One and the Championship clash at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on Sunday afternoon, when Birmingham City and Leeds United meet in the FA Cup.

Blues are coming into this fixture following a West Midlands derby draw earlier in the week, whilst the Whites enjoyed a memorable outing in West London.

Match preview

Since a season-shifting 3-0 loss at Watford on New Year's Day, Birmingham City have enjoyed an eight-game unbeaten run (W5 D3) across Championship and FA Cup duties, reigniting hopes of rubbing shoulders with the likes of Leeds in the Premier League next term.

That being said, Blues will be slightly disappointed at missing the opportunity to move into the second tier's top six after a goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday night, when the Second City club failed to find the net at St Andrew's for the first time since late August.

Nevertheless, a seven-match unbeaten sequence in the league has moved Chris Davies's promotion chasers up to 10th in the Championship standings, just the single point behind Wrexham in the lowest of the playoff positions.

Blues would be gunning for automatic promotion to the promised land if the division was based purely on home form, with Sunday's hosts unbeaten across their last 11 St Andrew's matches, losing only one of 16 home clashes in the second tier during 2025-26.

The in-form Midlanders booked a tasty-looking tie with Leeds courtesy of a 3-2 victory at League Two Cambridge United in the third round on January 10, when influential January arrival Kai Wagner bagged his maiden goal for Birmingham since his switch from MLS.

Despite suffering severe homesickness in the Premier League this season, Leeds United showed considerable strength and powers of recovery on the road to rescue a point at Chelsea on Tuesday night, when Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor netted their sixth and fourth goals of the league campaign respectively.

Since the pulsating 4-3 loss at St James' Park to Newcastle United on January 7, Daniel Farke's troops have lost just the single match across six in all competitions, signalling their ability to compete on multiple fronts this term.

The collection of four points from their last two top-flight battles has lifted the Yorkshire outfit to 15th spot in the Premier League table, six points above 18th-placed West Ham United, who are the main culprits for a rising tide in the relegation battle following three wins from their last five.

Focusing on FA Cup matters for the moment, Leeds' only away success since the September trip to Wolverhampton Wanderers arrived in this competition last month, when a second-half comeback at Derby County led to third-round progression.

Despite turning out victorious in three of their last four meetings with Sunday's opponents, the Whites have bad recent memories of St Andrew's, where they lost due to a solitary Lukas Jutkiewicz goal on the second weekend of the 2023-24 campaign.

Birmingham City FA Cup form: W

Birmingham City form (all competitions): D W D W W D

Leeds United FA Cup form: W

Leeds United form (all competitions): W W D L W D

Team News

After recovering from a calf injury to make his first appearance of 2026 against West Brom, boyhood Birmingham fan Demarai Gray could start Sunday's FA Cup match.

There is set to be an enforced change in the engine room of the hosts, with Paik Seung-ho suffering his second shoulder injury of the campaign earlier in the week.

A number of notable long-term absentees remain for Blues, including Ethan Laird (hamstring), Alex Cochrane (ankle) and Lee Buchanan (knee).

Missing the crazy four-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge due to illness, Leeds marksman Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a doubt to feature in the Second City.

A key force in the Whites' back three recently, Pascal Struijk is currently on the sidelines due to a hip problem.

Last featuring in the 4-0 Elland Road loss to Arsenal, Anton Stach is also battling against a hip-related issue.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Allsop; Iwata, Klarer, Neumann, Wagner; Doyle, Solis, Vicente, Stansfield, Gray; Priske

Leeds United possible starting lineup:

Darlow; Bornauw, Bijol, Ampadu; Gnonto, Tanaka, Gruev, Byram; Piroe, Nmecha, Okafor

We say: Birmingham City 2-3 Leeds United

As shown by their FA Cup clash with Newcastle United last year, Birmingham have the ability to go toe-to-toe with Premier League opposition at St Andrew's.

We are expecting an open affair on Sunday afternoon, when Leeds' top-flight quality should give them an attacking edge.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.