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

With three EFL Cup titles between them, Swansea City and Birmingham City clash in the first round of this season's competition at the Swansea.com Stadium on Saturday afternoon in South Wales.

Both sides concluded their pre-season schedules with matches against Spanish opposition - the Swans hosted Leganes, whilst Blues enjoyed an eye-catching tie with European giants Barcelona.

Match preview

Following back-to-back 11th-placed finishes in the Championship, Swansea City are eyeing up a serious promotion push this season, especially given that the playoffs have been expanded to six teams.

The star performer for the Swans in the second tier last season, Zan Vipotnik picked up the division's Golden Boot award with 23 second-tier strikes and remains at the club despite having admirers further up the football pyramid.

Joining the Slovenian sensation in attack in South Wales, Ross Stewart recently put pen to paper on a three-year contract with Swansea, who are looking to build something special under Portuguese head coach Vitor Matos.

The Swans are one of a group of teams who have lifted the EFL Cup over the past 15 years, with the Welsh outfit smashing Bradford City 5-0 at Wembley Stadium to win the competition in 2013.

To get anywhere near repeating that trick in 2025-26, Matos's side need to address their poor recent record against Birmingham, with the Second City club unbeaten across their past 10 meetings (W4 D6).

Birmingham come into the new EFL Cup and Championship season boasting the most stunning pre-season result on paper, with Chris Davies's side defeating five-time Champions League winners Barcelona on penalties at St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park on July 31.

Despite Hansi Flick fielding a youthful side for the Catalonians, Blues will source a great amount of confidence from the match, with the club's January arrivals really coming into their own in the Second City.

Finding the net against Barca last time out, August Priske and Jhon Solis have been mightily impressive in pre-season, both possessing the age profile and ability to enjoy breakout Championship campaigns.

Birmingham have lost just the single match this summer - a behind-closed-doors defeat to Portuguese champions Porto - picking up victories over the likes of Huddersfield Town, Burton Albion and Barca.

The 2011 winners of the EFL Cup suffered a shock exit at the second-round stage of last season's competition, with a solitary strike from Jaheim Headley securing a 1-0 win for Port Vale at St Andrew's.

Swansea City friendly form:

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Birmingham City friendly form:

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Team News

After netting three goals for New Zealand at the World Cup, attacker Elijah Just secured a permanent move from Motherwell to Swansea this summer and could make his competitive debut this weekend.

Another new arrival following an impressive campaign in the Belgian Pro League, winger Joseph Opoku netted the winner against Leganes last weekend, putting himself at the front of Matos's plans.

Cult hero Liam Cullen has departed to Leicester City but leading marksmen Vipotnik remains at the club, with the Slovenian scoring in the 1-1 draw with Birmingham in South Wales last season.

Birmingham are heading towards the new season with a first-choice midfield pairing of Solis and Tomoki Iwata, who is set for a spell in a central role whilst Paik Seung-Ho recovers from an injury setback.

Demarai Gray was a surprise absentee from the Barcelona friendly, with head coach Davies stating that the Jamaica international was left out as a precaution, meaning that he could be back this weekend.

Marvin Ducksch has not played a single minute in pre-season for Blues due to an apparent injury, although the former Germany international is highly likely to depart before the end of the summer window.

Priske's pre-season performances have earned him the starting role at striker, with summer arrival Luis Vazquez prepared to play second fiddle and provide his physicality from the bench.

Swansea City possible starting lineup:

Vigouroux; Key, Burgess, Lissah, Tymon; Stamenic, Widell, Yeo, Just, Opoku; Idah

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Beadle; Osayi-Samuel, Neumann, Klarer, Cochrane; Iwata, Solis, Vicente, Stansfield, Gray; Priske