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Birmingham City take on Stoke City at St Andrew's on Saturday, with both teams looking to continue their perfect start to the 2021-22 EFL Championship campaign.
Birmingham City are coming off a 1-0 win over Colchester in the EFL Cup. They opened their account in the league with a win over Sheffield United with Maxime Colin scoring the only goal of the game in the 19th minute.
Meanwhile, Stoke City inflicted a 3-2 loss upon Reading in their first Championship game. They won their last game 2-1 against Fleetwood Town, progressing to the second round of the EFL Cup in the process.
Birmingham City vs Stoke City Head-to-Head
Teams Birmingham City and Stoke City have played 14 games against each other so far. Birmingham have won eight matches while Stoke have won just two games. Four fixtures ended in a stalemate.
The last game between the two teams ended in a 2-0 win for Birmingham City. Lukas Jutkiewicz scored a brace for the hosts that day.
Birmingham City form guide: W-W-L-L-D
Stoke City form guide: W-W-D-L-W
Birmingham City vs Stoke City Team News
Birmingham City
Blues manager Lee Bowyer will be without first-choice goalkeeper Neil Etheridge, who has just made a return after a bout of Covid-19. Tahith Chong's status is in doubt after suffering a hamstring injury, although Ivan Sunjic has made a return from injury and is in contention to be named on the bench.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Tahith Chong
Suspended: None
Unavailable: Neil Etheridge
Stoke City
Tyrese Campbell is suffering from a long-term knee injury which will keep him out of the lineup for the match against Birmingham. Josh Tymon suffered a concussion against Reading and remains a doubt.
Injured: Tyrese Campbell
Doubtful: Josh Tymon
Suspended: None
Birmingham City vs Stoke City Predicted Lineup
Birmingham City Predicted XI (3-5-2): Matija Sarkic, Marc Roberts, Harlee Dean, George Friend, Maxime Colin, Gary Gardner, Ryan Woods, Charlie Lakin, Juan Castillo, Lukas Jutkiewicz, Jonathan Leko
Stoke City predicted XI (3-4-1-2): Josef Bursik; Ben Wilmot, Harry Souttar, Morgan Fox; Tommy Smith, Mario Vrancic, Joe Allen, Alfie Doughty; Nick Powell; Sam Surridge, Jacob Brown
Birmingham City vs Stoke City Prediction
Stoke City have had the best transfer season of all Championship sides, considering the kind of shrewd signings the club has brought in this season. The Potters are expected to do well this year and are likely to make it two wins from two matches when they travel to Birmingham on Saturday.
Prediction: Birmingham City 0-1 Stoke City
