Birmingham City played two games this week, a league game and an EFL Cup tie. Neither result was overly impressive.
The Blues were dominant in the 1-0 win over Oxford United last Saturday, pummeling the visitors with 16 shots, several of which should have found netting. Only one was on target though: Paik Seung-Ho’s goal in the 40th minute. Oxford were held to just 6 shots total and Ryan Allsop was forced to make just one save in the game. Birmingham is now tied on points for 3rd with just 3 other teams. 3 of the 4 have a +2 goal difference but Coventry sits above them all with a massive +8 GD after just 3 games thanks to a ridiculous 7-1 win over Queens Park Rangers (the biggest in club history).
A less successful outing happened on Tuesday in the Cup. The Blues hosted Port Vale, promoted to League One this season. Despite having 70% possession they were outshot by Port Vale 11-9 and had none on target. They lost 0-1 in a less than respectable display. Manager Chris Davies did make 10 changes to his starting lineup—and with good reason—but even so was not happy with his team and described them as “disjointed.”
The heavy lineup rotation was needed because the Blues are back in action today in a big Championship matchup for the third game in seven days. They visit Leicester City (2:00pm, Paramount+). Leicester were one of the three teams relegated from the Premier League this year (along with Ipswich Town and Southampton). They are now 7th in the table, just a point behind the Blues. They beat Sheffield Wednesday (21st place) 1-0 in Week 1, hammering them with 27 shots for a rather low conversion rate, lost to Preston North End (who are tied with the Blues) 1-2 and beat Charlton Athletic (14th place) 1-0 in similar fashion to the Wednesday win. They also lost in the EFL Cup to Huddersfield on penalties in the first round.
Leicester are also struggling with injuries so are not putting their very best lineup out there at the moment. That lineup, by the way, will not include club legend Jamie Vardy, who played his 500th and final game for the team back in May. That was also his 13th anniversary with Leicester and he notched his 200th goal for them in it. He is 38 but has just signed a deal with Serie A newcomers Cremonese. Leicester’s squad will be a lot less recognizable.
Oddsmakers are favoring the hosts in this one; if they are right, this will be the Blues’ first league loss since March 4th, a run of 16 games unbeaten. Of course, that includes 13 games in League One, which they ran away with. This season is much tougher, but they have faced relatively strong opposition already. Also expect a near first-choice lineup, so the Blues will likely have a good chance of taking at least a point in this one. A caveat though: Jay Stansfield exited the Port Vale game and was later seen on crutches and thus is highly doubtful to play.
The transfer deadline is looming on Monday and, like everyone else, the Blues remain active in the market. They have approached Celtic yet again for a striker, this time South Korean Hyunjun Yang, reportedly offering £1.5 million ($2.0 million). He is however not a regular starter for Celtic. Rumors of a deal for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain continue; he has apparently terminated his contract with Turkish side Besiktas (getting a nice payout of $2.0 million in the process). That makes him a free agent which would make him an easy acquisition.
On the outgoing side, Birmingham is also looking north across the border. Hibernian are making a move to bring Scotsman Lyndon Dykes home. He is being shopped to other teams as well, having fallen out of favor in Davies’ squad; he has played just 18 minutes in the league (despite scoring the winner over Blackburn Rovers) and 90 minutes in the 2 EFL Cup games (67 of which were in the heavily rotated lineup on Tuesday). Also likely to leave are George Hall and Alfie Chang, who were both loaned out to League Two side Walsall last season and have not played for the Blues this season.
In wider news, the city as a whole looks like it will be getting a big sports and economic boost: its soccer facilities are going to get a huge upgrade. The Blues, specifically club owner Tom Wagner, are looking to create what is being referred to as the Sports Quarter. That will be a major site (the 48 acres were purchased last year), including not only a new stadium for the Blues but other sports facilities and a host of entertainment venues. The proposed stadium will have a reported 62,00 seats, over twice the size of St. Andrews. The total cost of the project will be a whopping £3.0 billion ($4.0 billion). The UK government has committed funds to construct a rail line to support it and a 1.5 -mile tunnel is also being planned by the city to provide easy access for fans. At the same time, hated cross-town rivals Aston Villa have just announced an upgrade to their Villa Park stadium, adding 6,000 seats to increase capacity to 49,000. Big even by Premier League standards it will still be dwarfed by the Blues venue. Which means Birmingham City’s Premier League ambitions are getting clearer and clearer.
