Birmingham City will look to put an end to their two-game losing streak this Saturday when they enter the FA Cup, hosting Plymouth Argyle at St Andrew's.
The visitors might head into the match as the underdogs, but they have been in strong form this season, and the Pilgrims have won consecutive matches.
Match preview
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Birmingham City have had a difficult season so far in the Championship, and they currently find themselves 18th in the table, having only won seven matches.
The Blues were comfortably defeated by Blackburn Rovers in their final game of 2021, but they were unable to respond when they faced Queen's Park Rangers last weekend.
Despite a goal from Chuks Aneke, it was not enough to claw his team back into the game as they lost 2-1, which is why they will now be hoping to get back to winning ways on Saturday.
This match will actually be the first time Birmingham and Plymouth have ever met in the FA Cup, making this a historic encounter no matter what happens.
The Blues will also take confidence from the fact they have knocked out their opposition in lower leagues than them 13 out of the last 14 times they have faced them.
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However, the Pilgrims are enjoying a strong season in League One, and they are currently in the playoffs, with the squad aiming for promotion.
Their past two performances have highlighted the qualities within the group, having not conceded in either match while picking up three points consecutively.
Plymouth are yet to play in 2022, with their last game taking place on Boxing Day when goals from Panutche Camara and Jordan Garrick earned the 2-0 win against Cheltenham Town.
Within the FA Cup this season Steven Schumacher's team have already disposed of both Sheffield Wednesday and Rochdale, with their eyes firmly fixed on the fourth round.
However, the club have lost eight of their nine meetings with Birmingham City throughout history, which is form they will be hoping to change on Saturday.
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Team News
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Lee Bowyer will be without Matija Sarkic on Saturday and for the remainder of the season as he is set for surgery on a dislocated shoulder, meaning a change of goalkeeper will be needed.
Aneke will want a place in the starting lineup this weekend as well after he came off the bench to score in Birmingham's most recent match.
Meanwhile, it is unknown when Marc Roberts and Jordan Graham will be available again, with both men currently on the sidelines due to hamstring issues.
Plymouth's George Cooper missed out on Boxing Day with a knee injury, and that area has swollen and been an issue, but he is expected to be an option at the weekend.
However, Brendan Galloway is not expected to overcome his problem in the same area, which has kept him out of the team since November.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Etheridge; Sanderson, Friend, Pedersen; Colin, Gardner, Sunjic, James, Castillo; Deeney, Aneke
Plymouth Argyle possible starting lineup:
Cooper; Wilson, Scarr, Gillesphey; Edwards, Camara, Houghton, Mayor, Grant; Garrick, Agard
We say: Birmingham City 1-2 Plymouth Argyle
Birmingham City will likely head into this match as the favourites, purely because of the league that they are in, but when it comes to form this season, that should not be the case.
The Blues have struggled at points in this campaign, and that lack of confidence could end up costing them, providing Plymouth the chance to cause an upset.
Top tip
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 Birmingham City win with a probability of 38.57%. A win for Plymouth Argyle had a probability of 34.64% and a draw had a probability of 26.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Birmingham City win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.4%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.32%) and 2-0 (6.8%). The likeliest Plymouth Argyle win was 0-1 (9.75%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.73%).
