St Andrews hosts Birmingham City and Bristol City this Friday in a big game in the Championship mid-table. Both sides have had a rollercoaster season so far, and need a win to either enter the top half of the table or put some wiggle room between themselves and the relegation zone.
Birmingham currently sit 19th in the Championship after 24 games. The Blues have seven wins, six draws and 11 losses, leaving them on 27 points, just seven points above the relegation zone.
In their last five games in all competitions, Birmingham have one win, one draw and three losses.
The trip to Coventry was one to forget for The Blues. Callum O’Hare grabbed a goal in each half for Coventry as Birmingham slumped to a 2 - 0 loss. However, the next time out was a little more successful. Juninho Bacuna scored the only goal of the game in the added time of the first half as Birmingham held on for a 1 - 0 win.
Stephy Mavididi opened the scoring in the tenth minute for Leicester, but Jordan James equalised within four minutes, though Leicester still had the lead at halftime through Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall. Another goal from Mavididi gave Leicester the two goal advantage and the second goal from James was too late to rescue a point as The Foxes took home a 3 - 2 win. It was another goalfest against Plymouth Argyle. Jay Stansfield and James both scored in the first half, but Joe Edwards also got Argyle on the scoresheet before halftime. However, a red card to Krystian Bielik just minutes into the second half opened the doors. Bacuna put Birmingham further into the lead, but goals from Ben Waine and Morgan Whittaker grabbed a 3 - 3 draw for Argyle.
The last time out for Birmingham was against Stoke City on Boxing Day. Stansfield’s goal was just a consolation as goals from Jordan Thompson, Lyden Gooch and Andre Vidigal gave Stoke the 3 - 1 win.
Bristol City, on the other hand, sit eighth. In 24 games, The Robins have ten wins, five draws and nine losses which leaves them on 35 points, just one point from the Play-offs.
In their last five games in all competitions, Bristol City have three wins, one draw and one loss.
Delano Burgzorg opened the scoring for Huddersfield in the first half, but Tommy Conway equalised just one minute into the second half. Despite having 61% of the possession and 15 shots, City had to settle for a 1 - 1 draw. Arnor Sigurosson and Scott Wharton put Blackburn into a 2 - 0 lead but Mark Sykes got City on the scoresheet just after Wharton’s goal. However, City couldn’t find the back of the net for the rest of the game and lost 2 - 1.
City bounced back next time out against Sunderland. A Conway penalty in the 20th minute was the only goal of the game for a 1 - 0 win for City. Another win came against Hull City. Another Conway penalty and goals from Anis Mehmeti and Jason Knight gave City the 3 - 2 win over Hull, with Aaron Connolly and Ozan Tufan on the scoresheet for The Tigers.
The most recent outing for City was against Watford on Boxing Day. Cameron Pring, Sykes and Andreas Weimann along with an own goal from Wesley Hoedt gave City the 4 - 1 win over Watford.
Birmingham and Bristol City have met 74 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 1902. The Blues have the far better record in the fixture with 38 wins in comparison to Bristol City’s 19 wins, with the other 17 games ending in a draw.