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Preston North End will be looking to arrest their losing streak in the Championship this week as Birmingham City come to the Deepdale Stadium on Wednesday.
The Lilywhites have lost their last two games in the league, going down 1-0 at home to Nottingham Forest before suffering a 2-0 setback in Bristol.
Sandwiched between these defeats was a 4-1 thumping at the hands of Wycombe Wanderers in the FA Cup third round.
Birmingham City will be encouraged by this. They beat Middlesbrough at the weekend for their first league win in seven games.
With just six victories and 26 points from 24 games, Aitor Karanka's side are 18th in the standings but feel a renewed sense of vigor after the latest outcome.
Birmingham City vs Preston North End Head-To-Head
The sides have clashed a staggering 98 times in history, and the spoils are almost even. Birmingham have won 36 times and Preston have beaten their opponents on 39 occasions.
However, earlier in the season, they lost 2-1 at home to the Lilywhites, ending their three-game winning streak in this fixture.
Birmingham City Form Guide (all competitions): D-L-L-L-W
Preston North End Form Guide (all competitions): W-W-L-L-L
Birmingham City vs Preston North End Team News
Birmingham City
The home side have all of their players available for the clash as there are no injury concerns or suspensions to deal with.
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Preston North End
In contrast, it has not exactly been smooth-sailing for the Lilywhites. They are without a number of key players including Louis Moult, Ben Pearson, Patrick Bauer and Billy Bodin, who are all injured.
Top goalscorer Scott Sinclair is still recovering from a hamstring injury and will not be ready for the clash.
Injured: Louis Moult, Ben Pearson, Patrick Bauer, Billy Bodin, and Scott Sinclair
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Birmingham City vs Preston North End Predicted XI
Birmingham City (4-2-3-1): Neil Etheridge; Maxime Colin, Marc Roberts, Harlee Dean, George Friend; Adam Clayton, Ivan Sunjic; Ivan Sanchez, Jon Toral, Jeremie Bela; Lukas Jutkiewicz.
Preston North End (4-5-1): Declan Rudd; Darnell Fisher, Paul Huntington, Ben Davies, Andrew Hughes; Tom Bayliss, Ryan Ledson, Brad Potts, Daniel Johnson, Tom Barkhuizen; Sean Maguire.
Birmingham City vs Preston North End Prediction
Neither side have truly impressed so far this season. If their recent games are anything to go by, we expect a low-scoring draw in midweek.
Prediction: Birmingham City 1-1 Preston North End
