Prediction: Birmingham City vs Ipswich Town

Prediction: Birmingham City to win 4-2

Best Odds: 33/1

Bookmaker: Zetbet

Birmingham City and Ipswich Town will lock horns with each other in the Championship next week. The match between Chris Davies’s side and Kieran McKenna’s team will be held at St. Andrew’s and is scheduled to kick off at 8pm UK time next Friday.

Birmingham City

Birmingham City are preparing for life in the Championship. Once a Premier League outfit, the Blues won promotion from League One at the end of last season in style and, like Wrexham, will fancy their chances of finishing in the playoff spots.

Chris Davies’s side have been very active in the summer transfer window. Birmingham have signed Kyogo Furuhashi, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Kanya Fujimoto, Demarai Gray, Phil Nuemann, Alfons Sampsted, Tommy Doyle, Eiran Cashin and James Beadle.

Birmingham’s pre-season friendly matches, though, have left much to be desired. Prior to taking on Nottingham Forest on Saturday, the Blues had won three and lost three of their six warm-up games ahead of the start of the new Championship season.

Davies told BBC Radio WM: “We’re ready in the sense we’ve brought players in, we’ve still probably got a little bit more to do as the window goes on.

“You definitely want a squad that you feel can be competitive to start the season, so I think we’ve got that.”

Team News:

Birmingham are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Ipswich. Despite James Beadle being in the squad, Ryan Allsop is likely to start in goal against the Tractor Boys. Bright Osayi-Samuel, Phil Neumann, Christoph Klarer and Alex Cochrane are likely to be the four defenders. Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho will be the two holding midfielders. Kyogo Furuhashi will lead the line for the Blues and will have Keshi Anderson, Tommy Doyle and Demarai Gray behind him in attacking midfield.

Ipswich Town

Ipswich Town had a terrible season in the Premier League in 2024-25 and were never in with a chance of escaping the dreaded drop back to Championship. Now, the Tractor Boys will have to go it all over again and win back promotion to the top flight of English football.

The Tractor Boys have made four new signings so far in the summer transfer window. Azor Matusiwa, Ashley Young, David Button and Cedric Kipe have joined Kieran McKenna’s side.

New Ipswich signing Young told BBC Sport about McKenna: “He’s a winner and you see that on the training pitch.

“On the sidelines at the games, I get to see that day in, day out. He was a massive pull.

“Obviously, I worked with him at [Manchester] United. I knew his beliefs, I knew what he wants to do with the club, I’ve seen what he’s done with this club as well.

“It was a disappointment last season but speaking to him before even joining up I knew I wanted to come play under him.

“I know how passionate he is about football and what he wants to achieve and that is to get back to the Premier League.”

Team News:

Ipswich Town are likely to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation against Birmingham.

Alex Palmer will be in goal for Ipswich. Ben Johnson, Luke Woolfenden, Cedric Kipre and Conor Townsend will be the four defenders. Azor Matusiwa and Cameron Humphreys will be the two holding midfielders. George Hirst will lead the line for Ipswich and will have Jack Clarke, Sammie Szmodics and Omari Hutchinson behind him in attacking midfield.

Key Factors to Consider

• The last match between Birmingham City and Ipswich Town ended in a 3-1 win for the latter.
• Birmingham City have won 1 of their last 5 matches against Ipswich Town.
• Birmingham City won their final six League One matches to win promotion to the Championship.
• Ipswich Town won just 4 of their 38 matches in the Premier League last season.
• Ipswich Town scored only 36 goals in 38 Premier League matches last season.

Conclusion

Birmingham City will fancy their chances of winning against Ipswich Town in their first Championship game of the season. The Blues are buzzing after winning promotion from the Championship, have a strong team, and are at home for the game against the Tractor Boys.

Prediction: Birmingham City to win 4-2

Best Odds: 33/1

Bookmaker: Zetbet