Birmingham City host Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon with the two Championship clubs coming into this one in contrasting form.

Neil Warnock's men have won their last two matches, whereas Aitor Karanka's side have collected zero points out of a possible six in recent weeks.

Match preview

The Blues are currently sitting in 17th position in the second tier after their 22-point haul from their opening 19 games has left them six points above the drop zone.

Avoiding a relegation battle in his first season in charge at St Andrew's would be a good foundation for Karanka to build from.

The Spaniard will be facing his former side at the weekend having won promotion to the Premier League when in charge of Birmingham's upcoming opponents back in 2016.

A 3-2 loss at Cardiff City last time out made it back-to-back defeats for the West Midlands club, but their home form is of even more concern than when they are on their travels.

October 28th was the last time Birmingham won on home territory, and Karanka will be looking to put an end to that dismal run when Middlesbrough make the journey south.

Neil Warnock's charges have been in contrasting form to that of their opponents on Saturday.

A 3-0 victory over Millwall was followed up by the 1-0 win when entertaining Luton Town in midweek, three points that lifted the Boro to seventh position.

Goals have been hard to come by for the side from the North-East though, with their 20 efforts the joint lowest in the top half of the table. Summer signing Chuba Akpom will be hoping to build on the winner he bagged against Luton on Wednesday.

Reaching the playoffs was the aim for the Riverside club at the start of the campaign and, despite a tricky beginning, Warnock looks like he is in a good position to earn his ninth promotion in English football.

Despite this, Middlesbrough have found life on the road tricky in 2020-21. They have lost their last three away games and will be aiming to take advantage of Birmingham's woes when playing the hosts at the weekend.

Birmingham City Championship form: DLWWLL

Middlesbrough Championship form: LWLLWW

Team News

Denmark international left-back Kristian Pedersen will be available again for Birmingham after serving a one-match suspension against Cardiff and is expected to return to the starting lineup.

Winger Jeremie Bela made his comeback from injury as a substitute in the loss to the side from the Welsh capital and could be ready to feature from the first whistle at the weekend.

Centre-back Grant Hall and striker Ashley Fletcher remain long-term absentees for Warnock's side.

Marcus Browne could be in line to return to the bench following a hamstring problem, while Akpom is set to retain his place up-front ahead of Britt Assombalonga after bagging the winning goal earlier in the week.

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Etheridge; Colin, Roberts, Dean, Pedersen; Kieftenbeld, Sunjic; Sanchez, Toral, Bela; Hogan

Middlesbrough possible starting lineup:
Bettinelli; Dijksteel, Fry, McNair, Bola; Howson, Saville, Morsy, Johnson, Watmore; Akpom

We say: Birmingham City 1-1 Middlesbrough

With Birmingham poor at home and Middlesbrough struggling on the road, this encounter looks destined to be a draw. A share of the spoils would not be a bad result for either side, and they could settle for a point apiece.

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