Match Previews

Birmingham City v Albion match preview

ALBION make the six-mile trip to St Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium on Friday where they will face Birmingham City in the first West Midlands derby of the campaign.

The opposition

Birmingham City are still searching for their first victory of the Sky Bet Championship season. Garry Monk’s men have drawn four of their opening six games, losing just twice - like the Baggies - to high-flying Middlesbrough and Bolton Wanderers.

The Blues are unbeaten in three league games on home soil having tied with Norwich City (2-2), Swansea City (0-0) and QPR (0-0) in their most recent outing.

Birmingham, who finished 19th on 46 points from their 46 league games in the 2017/18 campaign, signed former Albion goalkeeper Lee Camp, defender Kristian Pedersen, midfielders Gary Gardner and Connor Mahoney, as well as former Baggies Academy forward Omar Bogle in the summer.

Last time out

The most recent fixture between the Baggies and the Blues came on Saturday, January 24, 2015.

Victor Anichebe scored twice as Albion recorded a 2-1 victory away from home in the FA Cup.

Stats

Birmingham City

- The Blues have won just one of their last six games against the Baggies in all competitions.

- Gary McSheffrey scored twice in a 2-0 win for Birmingham over Albion back in October, 2006 – the last time Blues recorded victory over the Baggies. Former Blues and Baggies defender Paul Robinson was sent-off for West Bromwich Albion with less than five minutes remaining.

- Birmingham City are one of only three sides not to have won yet in the Sky Bet Championship. Bottom two Reading and Ipswich Town are the other two.

Albion

- The Baggies are the top scorers in the division with 15 league goals.

- Albion won the first meeting between the two sides over 130 years ago. They defeated Birmingham City 4-0 in an FA Cup fixture.

- Both teams have scored in six of the last seven games between the two sides, with a total of 22 goals being scored.

From the archive

Here are the highlights from our FA Cup win in 2015...

Head to head 

The overall head-to-head record sees Albion come out on top.

Of the 127 matches that have been played, the Baggies have won 57 times, Birmingham City have been victorious on 35 occasions and there have been 35 draws.

Ticket news

Seats for the clash have sold out with almost 3,000 Baggies heading to St Andrew's Trillion Trophy Stadium.

Follow the game

Comprehensive coverage of the clash with Birmingham City is available in our Match Centre, where you can listen to live commentary on WBA Radio or follow our live text feed.

WBA Radio is the only service that allows Baggies fans around the world - from Smethwick to the Sahara - access to uninterrupted live commentaries from every one of our competitive games. iFollow subscribers can join Gez Mulholland and Dave Bowler for Baggies-biased live commentary on Friday.

International supporters who have an iFollow subscription may be able to live stream the game depending on where they are located around the world. To find out, click here.

You’ll also be able to find score updates on the club's social media channels.

Twitter - @WBA

Facebook - West Bromwich Albion

Instagram - wba

The Stadium Megastore will remain open until 5.30pm on Friday evening.

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