Preview: Derby County vs Birmingham City - prediction, team news, lineups

Aiming to record their first East Midlands success of the 2026-27 season, struggling Derby County welcome Birmingham City to Pride Park for a Championship battle on Saturday afternoon.

The Rams failed to break down 10-man West Bromwich Albion in a narrow defeat on Wednesday night, whilst Blues suffered their maiden loss of the second-tier term to Norwich City.

Match preview

Winning just one of their opening seven competitive matches of the campaign, Derby County's hopes of mounting another playoff push are beginning to gallop off into the East Midlands sunset.

The Rams have now lost three of their first four games at Pride Park in 2026-27 after a sobering occasion on Wednesday night, when John Eustace's side were defeated by a West Brom side who played the majority of the contest with 10 men.

Derby's lack of attacking firepower without American marksman Patrick Agyemang is painfully obvious, with Saturday's hosts scoring just five times in six matches so far - only newcomers Lincoln City (4) have netted fewer goals in the division.

After recording their fourth loss of the second-tier campaign earlier in the week, the Rams have slumped down to 22nd in the Championship rankings, one point above Preston North End at the bottom of the league.

A reason for cautious optimism ahead of Saturday's all-Midlands affair, Derby have won six of their past 12 Championship home matches with Birmingham, falling to defeat on just two occasions across that spell.

Following three consecutive wins over Norwich City recently, Birmingham City returned to their 21st century norm on Wednesday night, losing at Carrow Road in the Championship - albeit in controversial fashion.

Blues head coach Chris Davies lamented the performance of the officiating team after a Liam Millar effort was wrongly ruled out for offside, after which the momentum swung in the Canaries' favour, with Oscar Schwartau and Papa Diallo finding the net in a 2-1 home win.

Any Bluenose resentment towards referee Tom Reeves and his team needs to be quickly squashed, though, as Birmingham face a short turnaround ahead of an all-important trip across the Midlands.

Last season's visit to Pride Park was a real low moment in the reign of Davies, who decided to abandon his usual tactics to field a back five - a decision that quickly backfired as Blues lost and failed to register a shot on target.

The former Tottenham Hotspur assistant coach has learned critical lessons from difficult away days last term and Birmingham are more competitive on the road this time around, as shown during wins at Swansea City and Wrexham so far in 2026-27.

Derby County Championship form:

Birmingham City Championship form:

Birmingham City form (all competitions):

Team News

Derby boss Eustace stated on Wednesday night that Carlton Morris will miss this weekend's match with a muscle injury.

Adding that absence to the unavailability of Aygemang, the Rams are currently reliant on Sammie Szmodics, Lars-Jorgen Salvesen and summer arrival Henrik Meister for goals.

Birmingham missed the creative presence of Patrick Roberts at Norwich, and the winger is a doubt for Saturday because of a knock.

The Jhon Solis-shaped hole in the Blues midfield is there for all to see, with the Colombian unlikely to feature at Pride Park.

Rested from the start earlier in the week, left-back Alex Cochrane should return to the XI at the expense of Kristoffer Lund.

Derby County possible starting lineup:

Zetterstrom; Ward, Cashin, Langas, Taylor; Mowatt, Ozoh; Blackett-Taylor, Clark, Fuseini; Szmodics

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Laird, Neumann, Klarer, Cochrane; Paik, Iwata, Vicente, Stansfield, Millar; Priske