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A struggling Birmingham City side take on Preston North End at St. Andrew's Stadium on Saturday in the EFL Championship.
The Blues are currently going through a rough patch, winning only once in their last five games, including back-to-back defeats in the league.
A 4-1 thumping by Fulham was followed by Peteborough handing out a 3-0 rout, condemning the side to 11th place in the league standings.
Preston haven't covered themselves in glory either, languishing five places below Birmingham in the league, but their results have improved lately.
They're also coming off the back of a 4-1 drubbing of Cheltenham in the League Cup.
Birmingham City vs Preston North End Head-To-Head
The upcoming clash will be the 100th between the sides.
In the previous 99, Preston have come out on top on 40 occasions, whilst losing 36 times.
But in their last 15 encounters, Birmingham have won only twice.
Birmingham City Form Guide (all competitions): L-L-W-D-L
Preston North End Form Guide (all competitions): W-D-D-D-W
Birmingham City vs Preston North End Team News
Birmingham City
Gary Gardner was sent off in the loss to Peterborough and will hence serve a suspension in their next game.
Head coach Lee Bowyer has revealed in his pre-match press conference that Marc Roberts came off in training with a problem in his stomach. He will be assessed once again before the clash.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Marc Roberts
Suspended: Gary Gardner
Unavailable: None
Preston North End
The Lilywhites are likely to be without Conor Wickham and Liam Lindsay, both of whom went off injured in the last game.
Wickham, a new signing, was taken off just five minutes into his first start for the club with a hamstring injury.
Lindsay, on the other hand, was on the receiving end of a strong challenge to his knee.
Ched Evans, Matthew Olosunde and Tom Barkhuzien are set to miss the fixture due to injury. Scott Sinclair is in contention to return after recovering from illness.
Injured: Conor Wickham, Liam Lindsay, Ched Evans, Matthew Olosunde, Tom Barkhuzien
Suspended: None
Unavailable: None
Birmingham City vs Preston North End Predicted XI
Birmingham City (4-4-2): Matija Sarkic; Maxime Colin, Dion Sanderson, Harlee Dean, Kristian Pedersen; Jeremie Bela, Ryan Woods, Ivan Sunjic, Tahith Chong; Lukas Jutkiewicz, Troy Deeney.
Preston North End (3-4-1-2): Declan Rudd; Andrew Hughes, Patrick Bauer, Jordan Storey; Ryan Ledson, Ben Whiteman, Daniel Johnson, Josh Earl; Brad Potts; Sean Maguire, Emil Riis.
Birmingham City vs Preston North End Prediction
Neither side have been impressive lately, especially Birmingham, who've lost back-to-back games by huge margins, conceding seven goals in the process.
Their defense is all at sea at the moment and Preston will be looking to pounce on the opportunity.
Prediction: Birmingham City 1-2 Preston North End
