Preview: Birmingham City vs Huddersfield Town - prediction, team news, lineups

Birmingham City and Huddersfield Town will both kick off their pre-season schedules on Friday, when they meet in a friendly in Portugal.

The two sides both headed to the continent in preparation for their upcoming Championship and League One campaigns respectively.

Match preview

Birmingham City will play their first game of 2026-27 pre-season in Portugal on Friday as they build towards a second consecutive Championship campaign.

After earning promotion from League One at the first time of asking under Chris Davies, the Blues ended last term in 10th spot in England's second tier, having earned 64 points from their 46 matches, scoring 57 goals and conceding 56.

Their top-six hopes faded away in a poor eight-game span which produced six defeats between late February and early April, but the Midlands outfit did at least end the season on a positive note, going five games unbeaten and winning three of those.

While questions arose around the security of Davies's position given the ambition of the club, he and his side will now gear up for a second term with the hopes of building and mounting a more sustained push for the top six.

They will kick that bid off on Friday as part of their pre-season camp before returning to English soil for friendlies with Crewe Alexandra and Northampton Town ahead of the start of the term in August.

Their opponents, meanwhile, will play their first game of a new era after seeing a permanent managerial switch over the summer.

Huddersfield Town's last two seasons ended in disappointment, as they failed to earn promotion out of League One or even make the playoffs, having had spells under Michael Duff, Jon Worthington, Lee Grant, and Liam Manning in those two terms before Jon Stead and Martin Drury oversaw the end of the 2025-26 term.

That culminated in a ninth-placed finish for the Terriers, eight points short of the top six, before they opted to give Drury the reins permanently ahead of their third straight season in the third tier with the hopes of challenging for automatic promotion and a return to the Championship.

With plenty of movements in and out of the club having already taken place in the summer transfer window, they will hope to kick off a fresh start with their busy pre-season camp in Portugal before ramping up the preparations at home.

Birmingham City form (all competitions):

L W D W W D

Huddersfield Town form (all competitions):

W D D D L W

Team News

Chris Davies may opt to field a separate Birmingham City XI for each half of Friday's friendly or at least rotate throughout in an effort to develop fitness throughout his squad.

Defender Jonathan Panzo is no longer with the club, having departed after the 2025-26 campaign, but Dael Fry may make a first start in Blue having arrived as a free agent from Middlesbrough.

Ethan Laird has missed out on pre-season thus far with an injury, while Lee Buchanan also remains sidelined, meaning Bright Osayi-Samuel or Tomoki Iwata should start on the right-hand side of the defence.

An active summer means Huddersfield Town's starting XI may already look different to the squad used in League One last term, with Lee Nicholls, Ruben Roosken, Dion Charles, Alfie May and Mickel Miller among those who have departed.

The Terriers have new additions to test in pre-season, though, with goalkeeper Matthew Young, defender Ilias Bronkhost and midfielder Ethan Brierley competing to feature for the first time.

Their headline signing thus far may be Ashley Fletcher, who may get the chance to lead the line having scored 15 League One goals for Blackpool last season.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Allsop; Osayi-Samuel, Fry, Klarer, Cochrane; Solis, Paik; Vicente, Stansfield, Roberts; Priske

Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:

Young; Balker, Low, Roughan; Bronkhorst, Brierley, Ledson, Mumba; Harness, Fletcher, Kasumu

We say: Birmingham City 3-1 Huddersfield Town

While Huddersfield Town do have a good opportunity for a fresh start heading into 2026-27, Birmingham City head into pre-season with far more quality, depth and continuity and we see the Blues getting up and running with a win in their first outing.