Talking Tactics | Birmingham City v Swansea City
Swansea City are back in action following their FA Cup victory over Morecambe with a trip to St. Andrew’s to take on Birmingham City on Saturday (3pm).
Ahead of Saturday’s contest, WhoScored.com preview the clash, looking at what to expect from Birmingham, a key battle and key stat.
What to expect from Birmingham
It has been a bit of a whirlwind season for Birmingham City so far. The Blues getting off to a fantastic start, going unbeaten in their opening five games with three wins over Leeds, Bristol City and Plymouth.
After a strong start, Birmingham parted ways with John Eustace with the Blues sixth in the table. Wayne Rooney took over the reins and the former Manchester United forward failed to win any of his first five games in charge. He won just twice in the league before he was shown the door in the first week of January 2024.
Swansea’s trip to St Andrew's will see Tony Mowbray take charge of Birmingham for the first time following his appointment as the new manager of the west Midlands side.
The Blues were held by Hull in the FA Cup last time out and Birmingham come into the game on the back of a five game winless run in the league. They currently occupy 20th position, and sit three points behind Swansea.
Birmingham have set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation 22 times this season so you can expect Tony Mowbray to adopt that system in his first game in charge here.
WhoScored.com’s statistically developed strengths for Birmingham include creating chances through individual skill and stealing the ball from the opposition, with only Blackburn (673) and Ipswich (652) winning the ball back on more occasions the Blues (649) in the league this season.
Birmingham rank third for interceptions per game (11.2) with Cardiff (11.4) and Preston (11.7) the only sides to rank higher.
Key Battle
Despite Birmingham’s recent form, which has seen them score just once in their last three league outings, there is one stand-out goal threat in Jay Stansfield.
The 21-year-old Fulham loanee is the Blues’ topscorer this season having notched seven league goals and provided two assists since his move in the summer. The Englishman has also been awarded two Player of the Match awards and is the likely candidate to lead the line against Swansea on Saturday.
The visitors’ top scorer is Jerry Yates, who will likely spearhead the Swansea attack in this encounter.
Yates, who sealed the win over Morecambe when he scored Swansea’s second of the game late on in the FA Cup, is the Swans’ top scorer this term, with six league goals – and one in the FA Cup - to his name this season.
The 27-year-old has been a mainstay for the Swans this season and is one of three players to have featured in every league game for Swansea so far this campaign, alongside Carl Rushworth and Matt Grimes.
Key Stat
Birmingham top the charts for fouls committed in the Championship this season, averaging 13.1 fouls per game. Juninho Bacuna is Birmingham’s main offender with 42 fouls already this season.
However, despite their tendency to commit fouls, the Blues are one of three Championship sides yet to concede a penalty this season.
Swansea rank 12th for fouls, averaging 10.7 per game in the Championship this season and have conceded four penalties this campaign, the second highest tally in the league.