This weekend, Swansea City and Birmingham City meet as their disappointing campaigns begin to close at the Vitality Stadium this Saturday with a kickoff at 6 pm.
Swansea put in a deserving performance to beat Peterborough United 3-2 away from home on Wednesday night with a last-minute winner from Joel Piroe.
However, manager Russell Martin was not happy with the team’s performance despite the victory and did not speak to players after the match.
The Swans have kept just two clean sheets in their last 11 games and were beaten 5-1 by Fulham in their last home fixture. With the South Wales derby against Cardiff City coming up soon after the international break, Martin will be eager for his side to pick up some form before the historic match.
Birmingham manager Lee Bowyer admitted that Birmingham’s 2-0 loss to Middlesbrough was worrying. Though Bowyer celebrated one year in charge at St Andrew’s this week, his team had won just twice in their last 11 matches.
Birmingham has won their last two games against Swansea – triumphing 2-1 in this season’s reverse fixture at St Andrew’s – but they have not won on any of their last 11 visits to South Wales to face the Swans or Cardiff since 2008.
Swansea vs Birmingham City Head to Head
Both sides have 11 games against each other, with hosts taking three wins while visitors with four wins. Here is a look at their previous encounters:
Home
- Peterborough 2-3 Swansea
- Blackpool 1-0 Swansea
- Swansea 1-5 Fulham
- Swansea 3-1 Coventry
- West Brom 0-2 Swansea
Away
- Birmingham 0-2 Middlesbrough
- Birmingham 0-0 Hull City
- Bristol City 1-2 Birmingham
- Birmingham 0-2 Huddersfield
- Reading 2-1 Birmingham
Swansea City Team News
Hosts will be without full-back Ryan Manning against Preston North End in the English Championship. The defender is serving a three-match ban following his red card during the team’s home match against Fulham.
Birmingham City Team News
Visitor’s Kristian Pedersen has also been suspended after receiving a red card on Tuesday against Middlesbrough. Centre-back Teden Mengi hobbled off in the first half of the game, and Lee Bowyer has confirmed that Mengi has injured his hamstring again and will be out for six weeks.
Prediction and Odds
The two sides have little to play for, meaning this match could be somewhat of a bore. Swansea appears to be the better team going forward, so they should win the match.
- Swansea City Win
- Correct Score: 1-0
- HT – Draw
