Birmingham City and Ipswich Town will go head-to-head in the Championship opener on Friday night at St Andrew’s Stadium, with both teams looking to get off to the perfect start to their campaign.
Chris Davies’ Blues earned promotion back to the second tier as champions of League One with an incredible 111 points, while Kieran McKenna’s side suffered relegation from the Premier League after finishing 19th, 16 points adrift of safety.
Both clubs have been busy in the summer transfer window and will be keen to make a strong start, but the managers will have some decisions to make on their team and this is how GIVEMESPORT expect the sides to line up.
Birmingham City Team News
The Blues have added an incredible nine players to the first-team in a super busy summer window, including former academy star Demarai Gray who has returned following a spell in Saudi Arabia.
Davies has also added former Celtic striker Kyogo Furuhashi and England Under-21 goalkeeper James Beadle to the squad on loan, and all three players are expected to start the game. Kanya Fujimoto and Tyler Roberts are injury doubts, however, and are expected to miss the game.
Birmingham City Injuries and Suspensions
Player
Injury
Potential Return Date
Scott Wright
Knee
Unknown
Kanya Fujimoto
Knee
Unknown
Tyler Roberts
Knock
Unknown
Davies Drops Team News Update
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Davies shared an update on the fitness of his squad ahead of the game.
“There is no one that stands out.
“Obviously we have Kanya Fujimoto who is building his way back up having been injured when he arrived but played for the under-21 side on the weekend. Outside of that everyone is pretty much available apart from the long-termers.
“We have to be competitive, and we have to prove that we can earn points at Championship level.
“My style and my approach is one day at a time, one step at a time, one game at a time. That won’t change.
“It was the same last year, but we knew at the start of last year quite clearly where the objectives lied. This year, we have to go and compete, and I’ll find a lot out in those first few weeks.
“It’s a new league for this team, but we have to prove that we can earn points and compete first and foremost and take it one game at a time.”
Birmingham City Predicted XI
- Birmingham City Predicted XI: Beadle; Osayi-Samuel, Neumann, Klarer, Cochrane; Iwata, Seung-ho; Kyogo, Doye, Gray; Stansfield
- Birmingham City Predicted Substitutes: Allsop (GK), Laird (DEF), Bielik (DEF), Buchanan (DEF), Anderson (MID), Gardner-Hickman (MID), Chang (MID), Willumson (MID), Dykes (FWD),
Ipswich Town Team News
The Tractor Boys are looking to get back to the Premier League at the first time of asking as they will play in a different division for the fourth consecutive season, and they have been busy in the market with five new signings, including former Premier League winner Ashley Young.
But manager McKenna was dealt a huge blow after they lost defender Conor Townsend to an ACL injury in their final pre-season game, while Leif Davis, Omari Hutchinson and Jaden Philogene are doubts with knocks too.
Ipswich Town Injuries and Suspensions
Player
Injury
Potential Return Date
Conor Townsend
Knee
01/05/2026
Leif Davis
Knock
Unknown
Omari Hutchinson
Knock
Unknown
Jaden Philogene
Knock
Unknown
Wes Burns
Knock
Unknown
Harry Clarke
Knee
Unknown
Arijanet Muric
Knock
Unknown
McKenna Drops Team News Update
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, McKenna shared an update on his squad ahead of the game.
“Conor’s got an ACL injury.
“He’s seeing a surgeon this week and will get the operation at the earliest opportunity. That’s a big, big blow for Conor, a big blow for us as well with what we believed he would give us this season in the left-back position.
“The positives are that we have an outstanding left-back in the building (Davis) and we have two right-backs, in terms of Ashley (Young) and Ben Johnson, who have both played left-back in their career. So it gives us some options there.
“But it’s certainly something that we’re reviewing at the moment to see if it’s an area that we want or we need to add to.
“As it stands, both [Davis and Philogene] are struggling, to be honest.
“We’ll give them both right to the last minute if we can, because both are important players who had good pre-seasons up until that point.
“Omari was training on Monday and trained well. And then, unfortunately, he’s had a medical issue the last two days, so hasn’t been with the group. Hopefully, if there’s a good recovery from that, he’ll be with us on Friday night.”
Ipswich Town Predicted XI
- Ipswich Town Predicted XI: Palmer; Johnson, O’Shea, Greaves, Young; Matusiwa, Taylor; Philogene, Szmodics, Clarke; Hirst.
- Ipswich Town Predicted Substitutes: Button (GK), Kipre (DEF), Woolfenden (DEF), Broadhead (MID), Ogbene (MID), Chaplin (FWD), Al-Hamadi (FWD).