Preview:Birmingham City vs Hull City - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to maintain their unbeaten home league status under Chris Davies, Birmingham City welcome Hull City to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.

Blues shared the spoils at Wrexham prior to October's international break, whereas the Tigers mauled Yorkshire rivals Sheffield United at the MKM Stadium.

Match preview

Since the routine 1-0 success over Oxford United on August 23, Birmingham City's early-season form has taken a severe nose dive, with Saturday afternoon's hosts winning just one of their last seven matches across Championship and EFL Cup responsibilities.

A flurry of games before the second international break of the schedule yielded two points from a possible nine, with a 3-0 defeat at the base of league leaders Coventry City followed up by a pair of draws against Sheffield Wednesday and most recently Wrexham.

Boasting recent experience of the success that Birmingham want to enjoy this season - promotion to the Premier League - Sunderland loanee Patrick Roberts bagged his maiden goal for the Second City outfit last time out, cancelling out George Dobson's opener for the Welsh Dragons.

After being one of the favourites for automatic promotion during the pre-season predictions, Davies's men are yet to reach their potential in terms of both performances and results, meaning that they are currently occupying 16th in the Championship rankings, six points behind Middlesbrough in second.

This weekend's hosting of Hull will provide Birmingham with the opportunity to extend their unbeaten home league run to a staggering 30 matches, with Blues yet to taste league defeat at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park under the tutelage of former Tottenham Hotspur assistant Davies.

After avoiding relegation to League One courtesy of a superior goal difference over Luton Town last season, Hull City are hoping to compete near the top of the Championship this time around, with this weekend's visitors in search of consistent results.

The Tigers' impressive start to the campaign at the MKM Stadium continued during the opening gameweek of October, with a maiden goal in English football for Nigerian winger Babajide David securing maximum points at the expense of bottom side Sheffield United.

Despite seeing his four-game scoring streak come to an end against his former employers last time out, Oli McBurnie has enjoyed a marvellous start to life at Hull, with the Scottish striker winning the Championship's Player of the Month award after netting five goals in September.

On a mission to record back-to-back wins for the first time since October 2024, Sergej Jakirovic's men are level on points with Saturday's hosts Birmingham in the middle region of the Championship rankings, collecting 12 points from their opening nine contests.

A sold-out away end of just over 2,000 Hull supporters will be roaring on their heroes in the Second City, where the Tigers are searching for their first Championship away victory of the season following four second-tier outings without the taste of triumph to date.

Birmingham City Championship form:

L L W L D D

Birmingham City form (all competitions):

L L W L D D

Hull City Championship form:

L D W L D W

Hull City form (all competitions):

L D W L D W

Team News

Birmingham's injury problems have worsened over the international break, with Demarai Gray picking up a groin issue whilst training with Jamaica.

As a result, Blues may need a new option on the left flank, where Keshi Anderson was a reliable mainstay in League One last season.

Ethan Laird (hamstring), Lee Buchanan (knee) and Scott Wright (knee) make up the long-term absentees for the hosts, who could also be without the services of Bright Osayi-Samuel and Marvin Ducksch.

Joining fellow former Bladesmen McBurnie in East Yorkshire this season, Hull's John Lundstram is currently sidelined because of a calf injury.

Mohamed Belloumi has endured a stop-start opening to his Tigers career due to injuries, with the Algerian nursing a hamstring problem.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Iwata, Klarer, Robinson, Cochrane; Paik, Leonard, Roberts, Stansfield, Anderson; Kyogo

Hull City possible starting lineup:

Pandur; Coyle, Egan, Hughes, Giles; Slater, Hadziahmetovic, Gelhardt, Crooks, David; McBurnie

We say: Birmingham City 2-1 Hull City

Struggling to post regular successes on the road, Birmingham need to be formidable at home to keep their promotion dreams alive heading towards the festive period.

The international break possibly arrived at the wrong time for Hull, and their consistency problem could rear its ugly head once again.

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