Birmingham vs Southampton Preview
Birmingham are BTTS regulars at home and Southampton are the joint-highest scorers in the Championship. Cyle Larin scores plenty of goals and can find the net in a high-scoring encounter at St Andrew’s.
5 Goals in 4 for Cyle Larin
- Birmingham have seen over 3.5 goals in their last 4 home games.
- Southampton have seen over 4.5 goals in 2 consecutive matches.
- Southampton’s Cyle Larin has scored 5 goals in his last 4 matches.
H2H - Plenty of BTTS Results
Southampton have a 23-17 advantage against Birmingham, alongside 12 draws.
Birmingham See a Lot of Goals at St Andrew’s
Chris Davies’ Birmingham are a decent home side and are undefeated in six of their last seven at St Andrew’s. The Blues have scored 14 and conceded 13 in that period.
Birmingham drew their opening two Championship games 0-0 at Sheffield United and 2-2 against Bristol City at home.
Davies’ outfit fell to a heavy 6-1 home defeat against Brentford in the EFL Cup, allowing 1.98 XG and facing 18 shots.
The Blues hit back on Friday and beat Wrexham 2-1 away. Birmingham had 1.52-1.37 XG and Phil Neumann scored twice to secure all three points.
Southampton the Highest-Scoring Championship Side
Southampton have seen a joint high of 13 Championship goals in their opening three games. Cyle Larin has scored four of the Saints' nine league goals this season.
Tonda Eckert’s team started the new campaign with a 2-1 loss at Watford and a 3-1 home win over Stoke. Larin scored in both matches.
The Saints couldn’t build on the Stoke victory and lost 4-1 against West Ham in the EFL Cup second round.
The south coast side came back from a goal down and thumped Millwall 5-1 on Saturday. Larin, Finn Azaz, Leo Scienza and Tom Fellows scored and Southampton had 3.62 XG.
Predicted Starting Lineups & Team News
Birmingham (3-4-2-1): James Beadle; Bright Osayi-Samuel, Phil Neumann, Christoph Klarer, Alex Cochrane; Tomoki Iwata, Jhon Solis Romero; Carlos Vicente, Jay Stansfield, Patrick Roberts; August Priske
Defender Taylor Gardner-Hickman and midfielder Marc Leonard are sidelined with long-term injuries.
Demarai Gray was subbed off at half time with an injury at Wrexham and is doubtful here. Chris Davies issued a post-match update on the forward’s condition and said:
“He just got a really heavy knock and he was in a lot of pain. He tried his very best to keep going but it’s something he’s had before.”
Southampton (4-2-3-1): Daniel Peretz; James Bree, Nathan Wood, Keven Schlotterbeck, Ryan Manning; Cameron Bragg, Flynn Downes; Kuryu Matsuki, Finn Azaz, Leo Scienza; Cyle Larin
Midfielder Caspar Jander is unlikely to feature due to a lack of match fitness.
Flynn Downes is expected to start following an injury against Millwall. Tonda Eckert was hopeful that the midfielder would be fit to start against Birmingham and said:
"It was just a cut [above the eyebrow], so we'll try everything to get him on the pitch on Tuesday."