Preview: Burton Albion vs Birmingham City - prediction, team news, lineups

League One outfit Burton Albion welcome Championship side Birmingham City to the Pirelli Stadium for a pre-season clash on Wednesday night.

The two teams butted heads just over 12 months ago in a friendly fixture, with the Brewers claiming a slender 1-0 home victory courtesy of an early goal from Fabio Tavares.

Match preview

Burton Albion are preparing for their ninth successive season as a League One club and will be seeking to build on their 17th-placed finish from the previous campaign in which they narrowly avoided relegation.

Thirteen wins, 15 draws and 18 defeats were posted by the Brewers across 46 league games, but they concluded the season with a six-match unbeaten run (W1 D5) to climb five points clear of the bottom four.

Burton - mourning the loss of former player Steve Dolby who died this week at the age of 69 - have taken part in two friendly matches during pre-season this summer, but they failed to win or score in either encounter against Alfreton Town and Leicester City.

A goalless stalemate with non-league Alfreton was followed by a 3-0 home defeat to Leicester last Saturday, and while head coach Gary Bowyer will be keen to see performances improve, he is aware that the primary focus for his players is gaining valuable minutes and building up their fitness in the early stages of pre-season.

After facing Birmingham on Wednesday, Burton will conclude their pre-season with matches against Solihull Moors and Derby County, before kick-starting the 2026-27 campaign at home to Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup first round on August 8.

After cruising to the League One title with 111 points in the 2024-25 campaign, Birmingham secured 10th place in the Championship last season, comfortably finishing 17 points clear of the bottom three, but nine points behind the playoff positions.

Blues won 17, drew 13 and lost 16 of their 46 league matches, ending the season with a five-game unbeaten run including three wins over Wrexham, Preston North End and Bristol City.

Chris Davies’s side underwent an aggressive squad rebuild last summer when they returned to the second tier, but they have since experienced a quieter transfer window thus far, with midfielder Jhon Solis, defender Dael Fry and the return of goalkeeper James Beadle on loan representing their only three incomings.

Birmingham have made a winning start to their pre-season preparations this summer, with a 3-1 home victory over Huddersfield Town followed five days later by a 3-0 away success against Solihull Moors last Wednesday.

Blues will follow up their clash against Burton with friendlies against Northampton Town, Crewe Alexandra and Spanish giants Barcelona, before travelling to Swansea City for an EFL Cup first-round tie to begin their 2026-27 campaign.

Burton Albion pre-season form:

Birmingham City pre-season form:

Team News

Burton’s new signings Corey Addai, Curtis Tilt and Matthew Dennis all played the first 45 minutes of their defeat to Leicester last time out and the trio are expected to be involved again in some capacity against Birmingham.

Attacking duo Jake Beesley and Fabio Tavares have both departed after scoring a combined 21 goals for the Brewers last season, but 14-goal Tyrese Shade remains at the club and could play on Wednesday.

As for Birmingham, defender Kai Wagner has been sold to Philadelphia Union just six months after he joined Blues, but goalkeeper Beadle could feature for the first time since his return on loan from Brighton was confirmed last Friday.

August Priske and Demarai Gray were both on target in the win over Solihull Moors and are expected to be involved against Burton, while the likes of Bright Osayi-Samuel, Christoph Klarer, Alex Cochrane, Tomoki Iwata, Jack Robinson and Kanya Fujimoto are also set to play.

Burton Albion possible starting lineup:

Addai; Sibbick, Delap, Tilt, Armer; Lofthouse, Evans, Chauke, Webster; Dennis, Scutt

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Osayi-Samuel, Neumann, Klarer, Buchanan; Gardner-Hickman, Iwata, Solis; Vicente, Priske, Da Silva

We say: Burton Albion 1-2 Birmingham City

Birmingham will look to build on the momentum of their positive start to pre-season when they travel to Burton, and while their third-tier counterparts are sure to provide a competitive test, the Blues' superior overall quality should ultimately shine through to secure the victory.

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