Preview: Birmingham City vs Queens Park Rangers - prediction, team news, lineups

Both battling to avoid four consecutive defeats in the Championship, Birmingham City and Queens Park Rangers lock horns at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on Wednesday night.

Blues endured a damaging afternoon at the home of Charlton Athletic over the weekend, whilst Middlesbrough's Sunday evening trip to Loftus Road left the R's in ruins.

Match preview

For the first time since the arrival of head coach Chris Davies at the beginning of the 2024-25 League One season, Birmingham City are in the midst of a three-game losing run in the league, all-but ending their hopes of mounting a late playoff push.

Whilst defeats to Millwall and Middlesbrough were disappointing yet understandable, Saturday afternoon's 1-0 loss at The Valley versus Charlton was the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of Blues' faint Premier League dreams this year.

After taking charge of his 100th match as Birmingham boss over the weekend, the jury is out in some sections of the fanbase on Davies as his side's campaign looks set to peter out despite pre-season projections of a promotion fight.

Heading into Wednesday night's clash with QPR at St Andrew's, Blues are occupying an uninspiring 12th position in the Championship standings, eight points behind sixth-placed Wrexham, who have played a game fewer due to fifth-round FA Cup involvement.

Whilst Birmingham's away struggles were there for all to see at Charlton, Davies's troops are typically a tough nut to crack in the Second City, where they have been defeated in just two of 17 league games in 2025-26, with only Coventry City (1) and Ipswich Town (1) losing fewer home clashes.

© Imago / Pro Sports Images

On a similar trajectory to Wednesday's hosts, Queens Park Rangers' playoff hopes have all-but evaporated after losing each of their last three Championship matches to Southampton, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough by an aggregate scoreline of 11-0.

The R's are now fighting to avoid four straight league losses for the first time since March 2025, with Julien Stephen's troops winning only two of their past 11 matches across second tier and FA Cup action dating back to the middle of January.

Collecting a mere four points from their last six second-tier battles, QPR have dropped down to 16th spot in the Championship rankings with 10 matches remaining, sitting a sizeable 10 points behind the playoff picture.

A major reason behind the downfall of the R's in 2026, leading marksman Rumarn Burrell has failed to feature in a competitive fixture since finding the net against League One-bound Sheffield United on January 4 due to injury.

Throwing all of that negativity to the side for a moment, QPR possess a brilliant recent record against Birmingham, with the capital club unbeaten across their last three Championship matches (W2 D1) versus Blues.

Birmingham City Championship form:

Birmingham City form (all competitions):

Queens Park Rangers Championship form:

Team News

© Imago

Birmingham are light on options at left-back, with both Alex Cochrane (ankle) and Lee Buchanan (knee) currently out of first-team action.

As a result, Kai Wagner will continue in defence for Blues, with Phil Neumann possibly replacing Jonathan Panzo as Christoph Klarer's partner at centre-back.

After a lacklustre offensive display at Charlton, Birmingham's attacking cards could be shuffled from the start on Wednesday, with Jay Stansfield, Ibrahim Osman and Patrick Roberts all pushing for starts.

A top transfer target for Blues during the summer of 2025, QPR's Kwame Poku has been sidelined since January because of a hamstring injury.

The R's attacking options are reduced further by the absence of Karamoko Dembele, who suffered a season-ending knee injury on January 31.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Allsop; Iwata, Klarer, Neumann, Wagner; Paik, Solis, Roberts, Ducksch, Gray; Stansfield

Queens Park Rangers possible starting lineup:

Walsh; Mbengue, Dunne, Edwards, Morgan; Vale, Hayden, Varane, Saito; Smyth, Kone

We say: Birmingham City 2-1 Queens Park Rangers

Despite their severe dip in form of late, Birmingham are usually strong at St Andrew's and should be confident of enjoying a productive Wednesday night.

The R's are plagued with injuries at the moment and could sink further into midtable mediocrity with a defeat in the Second City.

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