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Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs. Birmingham City - predictions, team news, lineups

:Headline: Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs. Birmingham City - predictions, team news, lineups:
Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between West Bromwich Albion and Birmingham City, including team news and predicted lineups.

Title-chasing West Bromwich Albion will resume their Championship campaign this weekend when they welcome Birmingham City to the Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.

Birmingham, on the other hand, will be looking to end their five-game winless run as they lie 16th at this stage of the campaign.


Match preview

West Brom lost a little bit of ground in the title race before play was brought to a halt - with Slaven Bilic's side suffering a shock defeat to Wigan Athletic before being held by Swansea in their most recent fixtures.

Leeds United took advantage of the Baggies' slip ups as they went into the coronavirus-enforced suspension at the top of the table, but Bilic's side are still in a strong position to achieve promotion back to the Premier League with 70 points from 37 matches.

Indeed, the Baggies are six points clear of third-placed Fulham, although they have only managed two wins from their last eight at the Hawthorns in the second tier - and playing in empty stadiums could potentially wipe out the home advantage.

Bilic's men were also knocked out of the FA Cup by Newcastle United at the last-16 stage, so the West Brom faithful will be eager to see their side end a three-game winless run when they return to action at the weekend.

Leeds do not resume their campaign until the day after when they travel to Cardiff City, so the Baggies can temporarily move back to the top of the rankings with a victory over Birmingham.

In contrast, Birmingham have slipped down the table after failing to win any of their last five games prior to the coronavirus postponement.

Pep Clotet was forced to witness his side succumb to a 3-1 defeat against Reading last time out - a result which followed four draws in succession in the English second tier.

The loss to Reading was actually their first defeat in the Championship since New Year's Day, but failures to convert draws into wins means that Birmingham are in a familiar position at this stage of the season.

The Blues have finished 17th or below in each of their last three Championship campaigns, but Clotet's side are on 47 points and eight clear of the relegation zone, so barring any disasters they should be safe.

West Brom took the spoils when the sides last locked horns in December, with a Charlie Austin double helping the Baggies to a 3-2 victory at St Andrew's.

West Bromwich Albion Championship form: WDWWLD
West Bromwich Albion form (all competitions): DWWLLD

Birmingham City Championship form: WDDDDL
Birmingham City form (all competitions): DDDDLL


Team News

Nineteen-year-old defender Nathan Ferguson is unavailable for West Brom having undergone knee surgery, but other than that Bilic has a relatively clean bill of health heading into Saturday's fixture.

Ahmed Hegazy and Grady Diangana are both expected to make the starting lineup having shaken off hamstring injuries during the lockdown period.

As far as Birmingham are concerned, Clotet will be without Josh McEachran as the midfielder continues his recovery from an ACL injury.

Winger Jeremie Bela is also fit again having recovered from a hamstring problem, and Manchester United-linked Jude Bellingham is set to feature from the opening whistle.

Kerim Mrabti and Jacques Maghoma are set to depart at the end of the month and are not expected to play a part before their contracts expire.

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup:
Johnstone; O'Shea, Hegazy, Ajayi, Townsend; Livermore, Sawyers; Diangana, Pereira, Robinson; Robson-Kanu

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Camp; Colin, Dean, Roberts, Pedersen; Crowley, Gardner, Sunjic, Bellingham; Hogan, Jutkiewicz


We say: West Bromwich Albion 3-0 Birmingham City

West Brom will be desperate for a good result on their first game back as they look to pile the pressure on table-toppers Leeds, and we expect Bilic's men to pick up all three points in routine fashion against a Birmingham side who struggled for form before the enforced suspension.


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Championship Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1West Bromwich AlbionWest Brom381914564372771
2Leeds UnitedLeeds38218956322471
3Fulham3818101052401264
4Brentford381891166333363
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest381613949391061
6Preston North EndPreston38169135146557
7Cardiff CityCardiff38141595450457
8Blackburn RoversBlackburn381511125546956
9Swansea CitySwansea381414104945456
10Bristol City381510135256-455
11Millwall381315104643354
12Derby CountyDerby381412125251154
13Queens Park RangersQPR38148165863-550
14Reading381310154743449
15Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds381310154750-349
16Birmingham CityBirmingham381212144857-948
17Wigan AthleticWigan381111164050-1044
18Stoke CityStoke38127195056-643
19Charlton AthleticCharlton38119184554-942
20Huddersfield TownHuddersfield38119184560-1542
21Middlesbrough38914153750-1341
22Hull City38118194964-1541
23Barnsley38910194362-1937
24Luton TownLuton38106224472-2836
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
CParis Saint-GermainPSG27222375245168
2Marseille28168441291256
3Rennes28155838241450
4Lille2815493527849
5Reims28101172621541
6Nice2811894138341
7Lyon281171042271540
8Montpellier HSCMontpellier28117103534140
9MonacoMonaco28117104444040
10Angers28116112833-539
11StrasbourgStrasbourg27115113232038
12Bordeaux2891094034637
13NantesNantes28114132831-337
14Brest28810103437-334
15Metz28810102735-834
16Dijon2879122737-1030
17Saint-EtienneSt Etienne2886142945-1630
18Nimes2876152944-1527
RAmiensAmiens28411133150-1923
RToulouse2834212258-3613
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