Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday find themselves level on points in the Championship table ahead of this encounter, as Pep Clotet and Garry Monk meet on the touchline once again.
Wednesday's poor form of late has seen the Owls lose ground on the playoff places and drop into mid-table, meeting a Birmingham side who have turned things around after a difficult start and are now well-clear of the relegation zone.
Match preview
© Reuters
Birmingham, 14th in the league, are currently enjoying a seven-game unbeaten run in the Championship, and have not lost in their last 10 in all competitions.
The Blues' fine form comes after a difficult two-month spell between the start of November and the start of January in which they won just one of their 12 outings across all competitions, picking up just four Championship points in that time.
Clotet's side have often played attractive, entertaining football this term, netting the second-most goals of any team outside the top nine, whilst shipping more than any side above them in the table.
The pair last met in the middle of Birmingham's winless streak, as Clotet's men recorded the second of what would be three 1-1 draws in a row.
Monk gave former colleague Clotet a frosty reception at Hillsborough that day, and it remains to be seen if the Owls boss is in the same combative mood on Saturday.
Wednesday, in stark contrast to Birmingham, have seen their form fall off a cliff in the last couple of months, winning just three of their last 12 in all competitions.
Two of those three wins came in the FA Cup, meaning Monk's side have won just once in 10 Championship games, and are currently winless in five outings, scoring only twice in that run.
Prior to this dip, Wednesday had been unbeaten in six league fixtures and were well in the mix for a playoff spot, but they now find themselves nine points off the pace.
However, the Owls have not won more than two games in succession all season across all competitions as they struggle for consistency.
Birmingham City Championship form: DDWWWD
Birmingham City form (all competitions): DWWWWD
Sheffield Wednesday Championship form: LLDDLL
Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions): WLDDLL
Team News
© Reuters
Birmingham boss Clotet is missing a handful of players ahead of Saturday's fixture at St. Andrew's.
Jacques Maghoma and Kerim Mrabti are both still out, but Josh McEachran is a long-term absentee with an ACL injury.
Scott Hogan is being assessed on a day-to-day basis and has an outside chance of featuring.
Wednesday manager Monk also has a number of selection issues to deal with ahead of the trip to Birmingham.
Steven Fletcher is a long-term absentee and Osaze Urhoghide is suspended after his sending-off last time out.
Meanwhile, doubts remain over Morgan Fox, Moses Odubajo, Adam Reach and Massimo Luongo.
Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Camp; Colin, Roberts, Clarke-Salter, Pedersen; Bela, Gardner, Sunjic, Bellingham; Crowley; Jutkiewicz
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Iorfa, Lees, Borner, Palmer; Pelupessy, Lee; Da Cruz, Forestieri, Harris; Nuhiu
We say: Birmingham City 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Birmingham are in fine form, whereas Wednesday are struggling. Given Clotet's side have home advantage and Monk's men have scored just once in their last four, the Blues could win this one fairly comfortably and keep a clean sheet in the process.
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 win with a probability of 37.07%. A win for had a probability of 33.85% and a draw had a probability of 29.1%.
The most likely scoreline for a win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.51%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (7.6%) and 2-0 (7.1%). The likeliest win was 0-1 (11.8%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.39%).
