Sunderland vs Birmingham City: Predicted lineup, injury news, head-to-head, telecast

Published at :November 9, 2023 at 3:33 PM

Modified at :January 14, 2024 at 1:01 AM

The EFL Championship season is in full swing

The EFL Championship is in full swing with 15 rounds played. Leicester City leads comfortably as expected. As we look forward to the 16th matchday, all will be on the Sunderland vs. Birmingham match, which kicks off in the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland have shown improvement with four points in their last two games, bouncing back from a three-match losing streak. However, they’ve won only one of their last five matches, putting them in eighth place, two points away from the playoff spots.

Birmingham, on the other hand, are undefeated in their last four matches. They’ll be eager to recover from a 2-2 draw against Ipswich Town after losing a two-goal lead. The Blues currently sit in 15th place and aim to put together a series of wins for a shot at the playoffs.

Sunderland are closing in on the playoff spots and a win could put them in fifth place. Similarly, for Birmingham, a win would mean that they can go up to 10th. But it also depends on the result of the game between Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End on Friday night.

Kick-off

Saturday, 11th November 2023, 12:30 PM GMT (6:00 PM IST)

Location: Stadium of Light

Form

Sunderland (in the Championship): W-L-L-L-W-D

Birmingham (in the Championship): W-W-L-L-L-D

Players to watch for

Jack Clarke (Sunderland)

The 22-year-old English winger has been enjoying this season with Sunderland. Jack Clarke is top of the scoring charts in the EFL Championship with 9 goals in the first 15 games.

Jay Stansfield (Birmingham City)

Another youngster to keep an eye on in the game is Birmingham City’s Jay Stansfield, on loan from Fulham. The 20-year-old has risen and scored 5 goals so far in the Championship. If he scores on Saturday then he will be scoring in 3 consecutive matches for BCFC.

Match Facts

Birmingham haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last seven matches.
Sunderland won 2-1 in their last two meetings with Birmingham.
Jack Clarke has scored Sunderland’s first goal in five games this Championship season.

Injury and team news

The home team has no new worries. Sunderland is still missing Ajibola Alese, Corry Evans, Jay Matete, and Timothee Pembele due to injuries. Unfortunately, the away team has a tough situation with Alfie Chang, George Hall, Keshi Anderson, Lee Buchanan, and Tyler Roberts all dealing with injuries. So, Birmingham will have a tougher task of making do with the available handful of players.

Head-to-head

Matches: 122

Sunderland: 55

Birmingham: 43

Draws: 24

Predicted lineup for Sunderland vs Birmingham City

Sunderland Predicted lineup (4-1-4-1)

Patterson; Huggins, Hume, Seelt, Cirkin; Ekwah; Roberts, Neil, Bellingham, Clarke; Rusyn

Birmingham City Predicted lineup (4-2-3-1)

Ruddy; Laird, Sanderson, Aiwu, Drameh; James, Sunijic; Miyoshi, Burke, Bacuna; Stansfield

Match prediction for Sunderland vs Birmingham City

Given their recent meetings, Sunderland have the upper hand against Birmingham by a mile. 2-1 results seem a close call, but they have been far from that. Although Championship games are hard to predict because of the drama they can produce, we would hand Sunderland the victory in front of their home fans.

Prediction: Sunderland 2 – 1 Birmingham City

Telecast details

UK: Sky Sports

USA: ESPN+

India: Fancode

For more updates, follow Khel Now on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram; download the Khel Now Android App or IOS App and join our community on Telegram.