Preview: Blackpool vs. Birmingham City - prediction, team news, lineups

The Seasiders are currently 23rd in the table, having picked up just 22 points from their opening 21 matches of the season, while Birmingham are 14th, collecting 28 points from their first 21 games.

Match preview

Blackpool recorded an impressive 2-1 victory at Coventry City at the end of October, but it was not a happy November for the club, who lost four straight matches to West Bromwich Albion, Luton Town, Middlesbrough and Wigan Athletic ahead of the break for the World Cup.

The Seasiders have won six, drawn four and lost 11 of their 21 league games this season to collect 22 points, which has left them in 23rd position in the table.

Michael Appleton's side are only one point behind 21st-placed West Brom, though, and there is still a lot of football to be played in the second half of the campaign.

Blackpool finished 16th in the Championship last season upon their return to the second tier from League One, and they have now been absent from the Premier League since the 2010-11 campaign.

The Tangerines recorded a 6-1 victory over Birmingham in the corresponding match between the two sides last season, which followed back-to-back defeat to the Blues.

Birmingham suffered a 2-1 loss to Sunderland in their last game before the season was halted for the World Cup, which ended a four-game unbeaten run in the second tier.

The Blues have picked up 28 points from their 21 league matches this term, which has left them in 14th position in the Championship table, boasting a record of seven wins, seven draws and seven defeats.

John Eustace's side have the seventh-best away record in the Championship this season, picking up 14 points from their 10 matches, which is the same as they have managed on home soil.

Birmingham have struggled towards the bottom of the Championship table in recent years, finishing 19th, 19th, 17th, 20th, 18th and 20th in their last six campaigns at this level.

As a result, their current position in the table is a positive one, and they are only actually three points off the playoffs entering the next set of fixtures in the second tier of English football.

Blackpool Championship form:

W

W

L

L

L

L

Birmingham City Championship form:

L

W

D

W

D

L

Team News

Blackpool will be without the services of Marvin Ekpiteta following his red card against Wigan last time out, so there will have to be a change at the back, with Luke Garbutt likely to come into the XI.

The home side also still have a number of injury problems, with James Husband, Jordan Thorniley, Keshi Anderson, Kevin Stewart and Jordan Lawrence-Gabriel all unavailable for selection.

As a result, there are unlikely to be many changes from the side that started against Wigan, with on-loan Arsenal attacker Charlie Patino again set to feature.

As for Birmingham, Harlee Dean, Gary Gardner, Przemyslaw Placheta will be missing for the visitors through injury.

On-loan Manchester United midfielder Hannibal Mejbri was in action for Tunisia at the Work Cup, but his country were eliminated in the group stage at the end of November, so the teenager could feature here.

Krystian Bielik, meanwhile, represented Poland at the tournament, and the 24-year-old will need to be assessed, as he played in his national side's last-16 clash with France on December 4.

Blackpool possible starting lineup:

Maxwell; Connolly, Garbutt, Williams, Thompson; Carey, Dougall, Patino; Lavery, Madine, Yates

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:

Ruddy; Colin, Sanderson, Trusty; Bacuna, Mejbri, Bielik, Bellingham, Emmanuel; Deeney, Hogan

We say: Blackpool 1-2 Birmingham City

Blackpool will be missing a number of first-team players for this match, which has to be taken into consideration when choosing a result. We are expecting a close game here but believe that Birmingham could navigate their way to an important three points.

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