Swansea City vs Birmingham City - prediction, team news, lineups

With 3 EFL Cup titles betwixt them, Swansea City and Birmingham City clash successful the archetypal circular of this season's contention astatine the Swansea.com Stadium connected Saturday day successful South Wales.

Both sides concluded their pre-season schedules with matches against Spanish absorption - the Swans hosted Leganes, whilst Blues enjoyed an eye-catching necktie with European giants Barcelona.

Match preview

Following back-to-back 11th-placed finishes successful the Championship, Swansea City are eyeing up a superior promotion propulsion this season, particularly fixed that the playoffs person been expanded to six teams.

The prima performer for the Swans successful the 2nd tier past season, Zan Vipotnik picked up the division's Golden Boot grant with 23 second-tier strikes and remains astatine the nine contempt having admirers further up the shot pyramid.

Joining the Slovenian sensation successful onslaught successful South Wales, Ross Stewart precocious enactment pen to insubstantial connected a three-year declaration with Swansea, who are looking to physique thing peculiar nether Portuguese caput manager Vitor Matos.

The Swans are 1 of a radical of teams who person lifted the EFL Cup implicit the past 15 years, with the Welsh outfit smashing Bradford City 5-0 astatine Wembley Stadium to triumph the contention successful 2013.

To get anyplace adjacent repeating that instrumentality successful 2025-26, Matos's broadside request to code their mediocre caller grounds against Birmingham, with the Second City nine unbeaten crossed their past 10 meetings (W4 D6).

Birmingham travel into the caller EFL Cup and Championship play boasting the astir stunning pre-season effect connected paper, with Chris Davies's broadside defeating five-time Champions League winners Barcelona connected penalties astatine St Andrew's @ Knighthead Park connected July 31.

Despite Hansi Flick fielding a youthful broadside for the Catalonians, Blues volition root a large magnitude of assurance from the match, with the club's January arrivals truly coming into their ain successful the Second City.

Finding the nett against Barca past clip out, August Priske and Jhon Solis person been mightily awesome successful pre-season, some possessing the property illustration and quality to bask breakout Championship campaigns.

Birmingham person mislaid conscionable the azygous lucifer this summertime - a behind-closed-doors decision to Portuguese champions Porto - picking up victories implicit the likes of Huddersfield Town, Burton Albion and Barca.

The 2011 winners of the EFL Cup suffered a daze exit astatine the second-round signifier of past season's competition, with a solitary onslaught from Jaheim Headley securing a 1-0 triumph for Port Vale astatine St Andrew's.

Swansea City affable form:

D L W L W

Birmingham City affable form:

W W  L W W W

Team News

After netting 3 goals for New Zealand astatine the World Cup, attacker Elijah Just secured a imperishable determination from Motherwell to Swansea this summertime and could marque his competitory debut this weekend.

Another caller accomplishment pursuing an awesome run successful the Belgian Pro League, winger Joseph Opoku netted the victor against Leganes past weekend, putting himself astatine the beforehand of Matos's plans.

Cult leader Liam Cullen has departed to Leicester City but starring marksmen Vipotnik remains astatine the club, with the Slovenian scoring successful the 1-1 gully with Birmingham successful South Wales past season.

Birmingham are heading towards the caller play with a first-choice midfield pairing of Solis and Tomoki Iwata, who is acceptable for a spell successful a cardinal relation whilst Paik Seung-Ho recovers from an wounded setback.

Demarai Gray was a astonishment absentee from the Barcelona friendly, with caput manager Davies stating that the Jamaica planetary was near retired arsenic a precaution, meaning that helium could beryllium backmost this weekend.

Marvin Ducksch has not played a azygous infinitesimal successful pre-season for Blues owed to an evident injury, though the erstwhile Germany planetary is highly apt to depart earlier the extremity of the summertime window.

Priske's pre-season performances person earned him the starting relation astatine striker, with summertime accomplishment Luis Vazquez prepared to play 2nd fiddle and supply his physicality from the bench.

Swansea City imaginable starting lineup:

Vigouroux; Key, Burgess, Lissah, Tymon; Stamenic, Widell, Yeo, Just, Opoku; Idah

Birmingham City imaginable starting lineup:

Beadle; Osayi-Samuel, Neumann, Klarer, Cochrane; Iwata, Solis, Vicente, Stansfield, Gray; Priske

We say: Swansea City 2-1 Birmingham City

With location advantage, Swansea volition beryllium assured of picking up their archetypal competitory triumph implicit Birmingham successful 11 matches.

Blues struggled connected the roadworthy past play and that taxable could proceed successful the archetypal circular of the EFL Cup this weekend.

For information investigation of the astir apt results, scorelines and much for this lucifer delight click here.