Seven thousand Birmingham City fans are making the trip to Ewood Park this Saturday as Blackburn Rovers are the hosts for this Championship clash.
EFL Championship
Our Three Predictions For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City:
- First Prediction For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City: Match Result – Birmingham City – 21/10
- Second Prediction For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City: Over 2.5 Goals – 1/1
- Third Prediction For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City: Both Teams To Score – Yes – 3/4
First Prediction For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City: Match Result – Birmingham City – 21/10
Blackburn will be very keen to avenge their early League Cup exit on Tuesday evening, losing at home to League One Bradford City following two early goals for the visitors. That made it two defeats from two for Rovers, but their home league form last term was in the top half of the second tier. Winning twelve times, including their last two, kept them in with a shout of the Play-Offs; this would make the hosts confident of victory against most Championship opponents. Unfortunately, they are up against a Blues side riding the way of promotion from League One last term. Tipped for a top six finish at the very least by plenty of experts, they certainly threw down the gauntlet with last Friday’s showing against Ipswich Town. Only denied victory at the death, the Blues will be keen to get their first three-point haul on the board after knocking Sheffield United out of the cup.
Second Prediction For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City: Over 2.5 Goals – 1/1
Goals followed Birmingham everywhere last season. Nevertheless, two sides managed to outscore the Blues on their travels last term, as they netted at a rate of just over two goals a game away from the West Midlands. Blackburn fell just shy of that tally, with 34 in their 23 Championship outings last season. Based on this metric, the game should see at least three goals, with a two-one away victory perhaps the most likely outcome.
Third Prediction For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City: Both Teams To Score – Yes – 3/4
These two outfits had a year apart last term after being regulars in the Championship throughout the last decade. In the last meeting at Ewood Park, there were six goals in an Autumn thriller, as the Blues triumphed four two. But goals haven’t always been a given in this fixture, with three of the last four encounters decided by a single goal. Despite this, they both look like very different outfits ahead of the latest instalment of the Championship’s top-of-the-table alphabetical derby.
Best Odds For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City
| Bookmaker | Blackburn Rovers | Draw | Birmingham City |
| MyriadPlay | 21/10 | 9/4 | 5/4 |
| Gentleman Jim | 21/10 | 23/10 | 5/4 |
| Betarno | 19/10 | 9/4 | 5/4 |
The table above shows the latest odds from leading football betting websites.
Full Preview Of The Game: Last Results And Head-To-Head:
It has been a summer of all change at Blackburn Rovers. Challenging among the Play-Off places early in 2025, Rovers were rocked by the departure of manager John Eustace to Derby County, though they did win for the first time in five league games in his absence at West Bromwich Albion. The impact of his departure only took a few games, with a heavy defeat at Swansea City beginning a seven-match winless run that included a reverse against the Rams. But with their campaign expected to peter out, Blackburn surprised everyone by fighting back out of nowhere. It began with a comeback draw against Sheffield Wednesday, with the Owls leading by two at the interval, and the home players booed off. That was followed by a resilient showing at Luton Town, before hammering Millwall on Good Friday. The good results kept flowing, with Sunderland the next to be put to the sword, before a fourth straight victory over Watford took their hopes down until the final day. But a draw at Sheffield United just wasn’t quite good enough for a top-six finish, and Blackburn were left wondering what if they hadn’t suffered such a blip during Valérien Ismaël’s early days in charge.
Plenty of players have departed Rovers in the summer transfer window. Eustace has snatched Andreas Weimann and Danny Bath to Derby, while captain Lewis Travis was the subject of a £1.5m bid on Tuesday, though that fee is unlikely to prize him away from Lancashire. Joe Rankin-Costello fetched a decent fee when leaving for second-tier rivals Charlton Athletic, with Callum Brittain departing for Middlesbrough on an undisclosed fee. Winger Tyrhys Dolan moves to the continent with Spanish side Espanyol. Incomings have followed though, many from abroad, with Sidney Tavares the big-money signing from Portuguese outfit Moreirense. Axel Henriksson further strengthens the midfield from Sweden, while Dion De Neve and Ryan Alebiosu were picked up from KV Kortrijk. Finally, the signings of Lewis Miller from Hibernian and Sean McLoughlin from Hull City will add plenty to Rovers’ backline.
Birmingham City arrive back in the Championship in perhaps the best shape they have been in since relegation from the top-flight back in 2011. After a top-six finish in their first season back in the second tier, the Blues regularly flirted with the drop during their thirteen years at that level. Birmingham would eventually pay for their managerial experiment with Wayne Rooney by being relegated, having risen into the Play-Off places under Eustace early in the 2023/24 campaign. Chris Davies was the man tasked with guiding Birmingham straight back up, and he achieved that in some style. They smashed numerous records, setting the highest points tally recorded worldwide in a professional season with 111. Tasting defeat just three times in 46 league outings, the Blues were able to firmly outmuscle every other third-tier side on their way to becoming Champions, sealing promotion at Peterborough United. But a league and cup double eluded Davies’s outfit, falling short against Posh in the EFL Trophy only days after that league meeting.
Looking to replicate the achievements of Ipswich Town, who achieved a double promotion from League One straight to the Premier League, Birmingham have had a blockbuster window. The Blues didn’t pay a penny to acquire Bright Osayi-Samuel (Fenerbache), Phil Neumann (Hannover), Kanya Fujimoto (Gil Vicente) and the returning Demarai Gray, nine years after he left the Second City. Alfons Stampsted (Twente) & Marvin Ducksch (Werder Bremen) arrive from France and Germany, respectively, while ex-Celtic star Kyogo Furuhashi showed his immediate quality last Friday evening. He was the pick of the signings, though the loan arrival of Tommy Doyle from Wolverhampton Wanderers did run him close. James Beadle and Eiran Cashin also join for the year from Brighton & Hove Albion, with Taylor Gardner-Hickman completing their business thus far from Bristol City. Major outgoings have been at a minimum, though Romelle Donovan was poached by Premier League Brentford. Alfie May has also been sold to Huddersfield Town, having played his part by helping the Blues escape League One last year.
Confrontation |
Where To Watch Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City:
Where can I watch the game, either on TV or in person?
- Location: Ewood Park, Blackburn
- Date: Saturday 16th August, 2025
- TV Channel: This game is not scheduled for TV broadcast.
Probable Lineups For Blackburn Rovers vs Birmingham City:
Predicted Blackburn Rovers Lineup:
- Lineup: Tóth, Ribeiro, McLoughlin, Hyam, Alebiosu, Travis, Tronstad, De Neve, Henriksson, Hedges, Ohashi
- Suspended/Injured: Forshaw, Pears
- Coach: Valérien Ismaël
Predicted Birmingham City Lineup:
- Lineup: Allsop, Cochrane, Klarer, Neumann, Osayi-Samuel, Seung-Ho, Iwata, Anderson, Stansfield, Gray, Furuashi
- Suspended/Injured: Wright, Fujimoto, Ducksch
- Coach: Chris Davies
