Birmingham host Sheffield Wednesday at St. Andrew’s this Saturday in the return of the Championship after the international break. Both sides sit in the bottom half of the table and need a win to get themselves either closer to safety or to get their season back on track.
Birmingham currently sit 18th in the Championship after 16 games. The Blues have five wins, four draws and seven losses, leaving them on 19 points, just eight points above the relegation zone and seven points and 12 places off of the Play-offs.
In their last five games in all competitions, Birmingham have one draw and four losses. Morgan Rogers scored the only goal of the game for Middlesbrough in the 88th minute to grab the 1 - 0 win over Birmingham who had just three shots on target. Another loss came at home against Hull City. Liam Delap opened the scoring in the 12 minute and Hull’s lead was doubled in the 74th minute by Jaden Philogene as Hull took home a 2 - 0 win with just 56% of the possession.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Carlos Alcaraz both scored early on to give Southampton the 2 - 0 lead going into halftime. Jay Stansfield scored in the 58th minute to bring Birmingham back into the game, but a late goal from Adam Armstrong gave Southampton the 3 - 1 win. The one point came in a draw with Ipswich Town. A goal from Stansfield and an own goal from Cameron Burgess gave Birmingham a 2 - 0 lead, but a brace from Marcus Harness late on meant the game finished 2 - 2.
The last time out for Birmingham was another loss, this time against Sunderland. Jobe Bellingham opened the scoring but Koji Miyoshi levelled the game before halftime. However, an own goal from Dion Sanderson and a goal from Adil Aouchiche gave Sunderland the 3 - 1 win.
Sheffield Wednesday, on the other hand, sit rock bottom of the Championship. In 16 games, Wednesday have just one win, three draws and 12 losses which leaves them on six points and five points from safety.
In their last five games in all competition, The Owls have one win and four losses. Yaser Asprilla scored the only goal of the game in the 82nd minute for the 1 - 0 win for Watford. Mustapha Bundu, Morgan Whittaker and Ryan Hardie all scored in the 3 - 0 win for Plymouth Argyle despite Sheffield Wednesday having 58% of the possession and 13 shots.
The one win of the season came against fellow struggling side Rotherham. Michael Smith scored twice in the first half to give Wednesday the 2 - 0 win. However, it was back to being on the losing side against Bristol City. Robert Dickie scored the only goal of the game in the 1 - 0 win for City over a ten-man Sheffield Wednesday who had Barry Bannan sent off in the first half.
The most recent outing for Wednesday was against Millwall. Murray Wallace, George Saville, Wes Harding and Brooke Norton-Cuffy all scored in the 4 - 0 win for Millwall despite having only 41% of the possession.
Birmingham and Sheffield Wednesday have met 101 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming all the way back in 1892. Not much separates the two sides, Birmingham have 39 wins in comparison to Sheffield Wednesday’s 35 wins, with the other 27 meetings ending in a draw.