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

Aiming to continue their late charge towards the top-six conversation, Birmingham City welcome Stoke City to St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park for a Championship match on Saturday.

Blues secured a mightily-important maximum at Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the week, whilst the Potters suffered a home defeat to Premier League-chasing Middlesbrough.

Match preview

Following a seven-game winless run (D3 L4) in the Championship throughout a wretched festive period, Birmingham City have got themselves back on the playoff-chasing track, winning three of their last four matches across all competitions.

After a rare away success at Cambridge United in the FA Cup on January 10 and a respectable point at Swansea City last week, Blues picked up their first league victory on the road since October last time out, when Marvin Ducksch and Kyogo Furuhashi goals defeated Sheffield Wednesday.

Two summer signings who have failed to impress at points during a mixed campaign for Birmingham, Ducksch and Kyogo are beginning to hit their respective strides, possibly in response to the January arrival of Danish goal machine August Priske.

Battling through three consecutive away contests undefeated, Chris Davies's troops are now back at St Andrew's this weekend, with Blues unbeaten across their last eight home matches (W5 D3) in the second tier.

Collecting seven points from their three most recent league games, Birmingham have climbed up to 13th spot in the Championship standings, now only five points from Preston North End in the lowest of the playoff positions after 28 matches.

Following over half a decade of mid-table mediocrity in the Championship, Stoke City are finally making a push towards the playoffs this season, but the Staffordshire side have suffered top-six setbacks in recent times.

Since two straight wins at the beginning of January, the Potters have earned just a single point across consecutive home matches against Queens Park Rangers and Middlesbrough, with the latter club victorious on Wednesday night despite Tomas Rigo's maiden goal for the hosts.

Aiming to make a swift return to winning ways this weekend in the Second City, Stoke are currently occupying eighth spot in the Championship rankings, only two points behind the lowest of the playoff positions at this stage.

Snatching maximum points from six of their 14 league outings so far in 2025-26, only Boro (7), Hull City (7) and Derby County (7) have picked up more victories on the road than Mark Robins's troops, who have won consecutive away matches in January.

Providing further cause for optimism ahead of Saturday's trip in the Midlands, Stoke are unbeaten across their past three visits to St Andrew's (W1 D2), beating Birmingham 3-1 at the venue on Boxing Day in 2023.

Birmingham City Championship form:

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Birmingham City form (all competitions):

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Stoke City Championship form:

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Stoke City form (all competitions):

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Team News

Unless Lewis Koumas is omitted from the squad or Patrick Roberts's move to Birmingham is made permanent imminently, new arrival Ibrahim Osman will be unable to feature this weekend due to the Championship limiting matchday squads to only contain five loanees.

Blues remain in the middle of an injury storm, with key players such as Demarai Gray (calf), Ethan Laird (hamstring) and Alex Cochrane (ankle) unavailable.

Priske is likely to make his first appearance for the hosts this weekend, with Jhon Solis pushing for his maiden start following an impressive cameo at Sheffield Wednesday.

Seeing red during the defeat to Middlesbrough on Wednesday, Stoke's Bosun Lawal is suspended for the trip to Birmingham.

As a result, Frenchman Eric Bocat is likely to be promoted to the starting XI for the Potters, who remain without the services of first-choice goalkeeper Victor Johansson (shoulder).

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Iwata, Klarer, Neumann, Wagner; Doyle, Paik; Roberts, Ducksch, Stansfield; Kyogo

Stoke City possible starting lineup:

Simkin; Talovierov, Phillips, Wilmot, Bocat; Rigo, Pearson; Manhoef, Bae, Thomas; Cisse

We say: Birmingham City 2-1 Stoke City

After improving their form on the road, Birmingham will be looking to extend their unbeaten run at St Andrew's to nine matches this weekend.

Stoke are down to the bare bones in defensive areas following Lawal's red card on Wednesday, with the Potters likely to suffer defeat in the Second City.

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