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Stoke City will host Birmingham City at the bet365 Stadium on Saturday in another round of the 2023-24 EFL Championship campaign.
The home side have had their struggles in the league this season but remain confident of avoiding the drop. They picked up a narrow 1-0 win over last-placed Rotherham United last time out, with Lewis Baker's stunning free-kick late in the first half handing the Potters all three points in an overall drab affair at the New York Stadium.
Stoke City sit 17th in the league table with 32 points picked up so far. They are three points above their weekend opponents and will be looking to widen that gap on Saturday.
Birmingham City have struggled for results in recent weeks and will hope new boss Tony Mowbray can bring about a new lease of life at the club. They played out a 2-2 draw against Swansea City last time out and perhaps deserved to come out on top but regardless, showed good character to come from behind and draw level twice in the game.
Stoke City vs Birmingham City Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- There have been 110 meetings between Stoke and Birmingham. The hosts have won 45 of those games while the visitors have won 39 times. There have been 26 draws between the two teams.
- The home side picked up a 3-1 win in the last meeting between the two teams, ending a six-game winless streak in this fixture.
- The visitors are without a clean sheet in their last four games across all competitions.
- Stoke have scored 26 goals in the English Championship this season. Only the bottom three teams in the table have scored fewer.
- Only two of Birmingham's seven league wins this season have come on the road.
Stoke City vs Birmingham City Prediction
Stoke's latest result ended a three-game winless streak and they will be looking to build on that this weekend. They are, however, winless in their last seven home matches and could struggle here.
Similarly, Birmingham saw their latest result end a seven-game winless run and they will be looking to kick on from that on Saturday. They have, however, failed to impress on the road this season and may have to settle for a point here.
Prediction: Stoke City 1-1 Birmingham City
Stoke City vs Birmingham City Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Draw
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Seven of the hosts' last nine matches have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: YES (Both sides have found the back of the net in six of the visitors' last eight matches)
