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The EFL Championship returns with a fresh set of fixtures as Birmingham City play host to Cardiff City at St Andrew's Stadium on Saturday.
The hosts come into the game in fine form, having claimed four wins and two draws from their last six matches. They will look to continue this fine run of results.
Birmingham City made it six games unbeaten when they came from behind to claim a 2-1 win against struggling Derby County.
That impressive run saw Lee Bowyer's men surge to 16th in the table, picking up 52 points from 44 outings.
Considering their 20th-place finish last season, Birmingham City will be content with their performances so far.
Cardiff City, meanwhile, ended their five-game winless run with a 2-1 win over Wycombe Wanderers last time out.
Their dip in form in recent weeks has seen them drop to eighth place in the log and out of the race for a playoff-place finish.
Cardiff City will now play for pride in the final two games of the season as they look to close out their campaign in eighth place.
Birmingham City vs Cardiff City Head-To-Head
Both sides have been almost inseparable in their 74 meetings across all competitions. Birmingham City have claimed 29 wins, while Cardiff City have picked up 28. The other 17 games have ended in draws.
Their last encounter came back in December, when Cardiff grabbed a hard-fought 3-2 win to extend their unbeaten run against Birmingham City to four games.
Birmingham City Form Guide: D-W-W-D-W
Cardiff City Form Guide: L-D-D-D-W
Birmingham City vs Cardiff City Team News
Birmingham City
Head coach Bowyer will be unable to call up the services of Scott Hogan and Jon Toral as they are ruled out with hip and hamstring injuries respectively. Other than that, the 44-year-old Englishman has a fully-fit squad at his disposal.
Injured: Scott Hogan, Jon Toral
Suspended: None
Cardiff City
Cardiff City, meanwhile, have a relatively long absentee list. Joel Bagan (shoulder), Joseph Bennett (ACL) and Souleymane Bamba (cancer) have all been ruled out with injuries.
Welsh midfielder Will Vaulks received a red card against Wycombe Wanderers last time out and is suspended for this tie.
Injured: Joel Bagan, Joseph Bennett, Souleymane Bamba
Suspended: Will Vaulks
Birmingham City vs Cardiff City Predicted XI
Birmingham City Predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Neil Etheridge; Kristian Pedersen, Marc Roberts, Harlee Dean; Steve Seddon, Ivan Sunjic, Gary Gardner, Maxime Colin; Riley McGree; Lukas Jutkiewicz, Jonathan Leko
Cardiff City (3-4-2-1): Alex Smithies; Curtis Nelson, Aden Flint, Ciaron Brown; Tom Sang, Marlon Pack, Joe Ralls, Perry Ng; Josh Murphy, Harry Wilson; Kieffer Moore.
Birmingham City vs Cardiff City Prediction
Despite the difference in their league position, both sides appear evenly matched on paper.
Birmingham City have been resurgent in recent weeks and we are tipping them to force a share of the spoils with the Bluebirds on Saturday.
Prediction: Birmingham City 1-1 Cardiff City
