West Bromwich Albion vs Birmingham Predictions

• Birmingham have lost 100% of their clashes with the top 3 in the league.
• West Brom are unbeaten in 7 home meetings with Birmingham, winning 5.
• 72% of games here this season have seen both teams score.

Blues for Baggies?

While West Brom and Birmingham aren’t the fiercest of midlands rivals, there’s an extra edge to this one as the Championship returns. The second-placed Baggies need to get the job done in the final nine games, starting with a win here.

Birmingham will hope to block West Brom’s impressive campaign, but the hosts have issues of their own. Their form has taken a tumble of late and that’s left them looking vulnerable going into this trip. With a huge gap between these two in the table, we’re siding with the hosts in our predictions.

Birmingham Slump

Birmingham had failed to win any of their last five games before the campaign was paused. The Blues seem to be out of the crosshairs of the EFL for the time being, meaning that the possibility of a points deduction and a relegation battle is off the table. That’s relief as they can now play out the season with the club on course for midtable safety.

The Blues do have a tricky clash this weekend, as they have won just one of their last eight league visits to West Brom (W1 D3 L4), a 3-2 win in August 2005. Their record against the best is also questionable. Birmingham have lost all four meetings with the current top three so far this season, while they’ve lost more games than they’ve won on the road. With West Brom fired up and aiming to return to the top, they should show their class here.

Baggies to Take the Lead

West Bromwich Albion are unbeaten in seven matches against Birmingham in all competitions (W5 D2) since a 2-0 defeat in October 2006. They should expect to add to that fine run. The hosts have claimed eight victories at the Hawthorns so far this season, while they should punish a Birmingham side who have a poor record against the league’s leading teams.

The Baggies have claimed eight victories here this season and we’re tipping them for another in our first prediction in this clash. With West Brom seeing both teams score in 72% of their home games, we are also going with the Baggies to win this one 3-1.