Southampton host Birmingham at St Mary’s Stadium in the early kick off this Saturday. With both sides having a strong start to the season, a win this weekend will only strengthen their push for the Play-offs.
Southampton currently sit fifth in the Championship. The Saints have six wins, three draws and four losses in 13 games, leaving them on 21 points, ten points from automatic promotion.
In their last five games in all competitions, Southampton have three wins and two draws. Adam Armstrong grabbed a brace in the first half, along with Will Smallbone to give Southampton a 3 - 0 lead going into halftime. Pascal Struijk did score in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to launch a comeback for Leeds, meaning Southampton held on to a 3 - 1 win. Another win for Southampton came against Stoke City. Stuart Armstrong scored the only goal of the game just before halftime, as The Saints won 1 - 0.
Stuart Armstrong scored once again for The Saints, in the second minute against Rotherham. Despite having 80% of the possession and ten shots on target, Jordan Hugill scored to grab a point for Rotherham as the game finished 1 - 1. However, Southampton bounced back from this against Hull City. Smallbone opened the scoring for The Saints, but Liam Delap equalised just five minutes later. Ryan Fraser left it late on, scoring in the 95th minute to give Southampton the 2 - 1 win.
The last time out for Southampton was against Preston on Wednesday. Kyle Walker-Peters opened the scoring for The Saints in the first half, but Milutin Osmajic and Brad Potts both scored to give Preston the 2 - 1 lead going into the latter stages of the game. However, an own goal from Ched Evans meant the game finished 2 - 2.
Birmingham currently sit 12th in the Championship after 13 games. The Blues have five wins, three draws and five losses, leaving them on 18 points, two points from the Play-offs.
In their last five games in all competitions, Birmingham have two wins and three losses. The visit to Carrow Road to face Norwich was a trip to forget for Birmingham. Gabriel Sara and Jonathan Rowe both scored early on in the second half to give Norwich the 2 - 0 win. However, Birmingham bounced back against Huddersfield. Siriki Dembele grabbed a brace and was joined on the scoresheet by Koji Miyoshi and Jordan James in the 4 - 1 win over Huddersfield, who only got on the scoresheet in the 92nd minute through Michal Helik.
Another win for Birmingham came against West Brom. Despite taking the lead early on, with John Swift scoring in the fifth minute, a penalty from Juninho Bacuna and goals from Dion Sanderson and Gary Gardner gave Birmingham the 3 - 1 win. However, The Blues were on the losing side on the trip to Middlesbrough. Morgan Rogers scored the only goal of the game in the 88th minute to give Middlesbrough the 1 - 0 win.
The most recent outing for Birmingham was against Hull City on Wednesday. Liam Delap and Jaden Philogene both scored in the 2 - 0 win for Hull.
Southampton and Birmingham have met 48 times in their histories, with the first meeting coming back in 1927. The two sides aren’t separated by much, with The Blues having 17 wins in the fixture, and The Saints having 20 wins, with the other 11 games ending in a draw.