The pair meet for a first-round tie at St. Andrew\u2019s, after Blues were denied victory by a late Ipswich Town leveller and the Blades were blunted by Bristol City.<\/p>\n
Match preview<\/p>\n
Bouncing straight back from relegation, Birmingham City strode out of League One with a record 111 points last season, and their ambitious owners are apparently intent on going all the way to England\u2019s top tier, with four of their summer signings<\/strong><\/a> starting against Ipswich on the Championship\u2019s opening day.<\/p>\n Blues were on course for victory over a team freshly demoted from the Premier League, as star man Jay Stansfield<\/strong><\/a> gave them the lead early in the second half after Kyogo Furuhashi<\/strong><\/a>‘s attempt came back off the post, but a late twist denied the home crowd another taste of success.<\/p>\n Ipswich were awarded a controversial penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time, which they duly converted, and Birmingham boss Chris Davies<\/strong><\/a> was left ruing the referee\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, St. Andrew’s remains an unbreachable fortress, after Blues finished last season’s campaign with an undefeated home record in League One, winning 19 of 23 games.<\/p>\n So, they may expect to maintain the club\u2019s perfect record against Sheffield United in the EFL Cup, having won the first two meetings – a quarter-final clash in 1966-67 and a third-round tie 19 years ago.<\/p>\n When the teams last met, though, United won 2-1 at St. Andrew’s in May 2023; in fact, the Sheffield side have prevailed on their last two trips to B9.<\/p>\n They have never previously won three in a row at Birmingham\u2019s headquarters, but that will be their aim as new coach Ruben Selles<\/strong><\/a> seeks a morale boost to wipe away events last weekend.<\/p>\n His first competitive game as Blades boss was a repeat of the 2024-25 playoff semi-final versus Bristol City, which United won 6-0 on aggregate; however,\u00a0 this time they were beaten 4-1 at Bramall Lane despite a Tyrese Campbell<\/strong><\/a> equaliser getting them back in the match.<\/p>\n In spite of that setback, having missed out by a whisker at Wembley last term, the South Yorkshire club are hopeful of contending for promotion again.<\/p>\n Before visiting Swansea City on Saturday, Selles must first take his team to the second city, where spot kicks could be on the cards: he has overseen four EFL Cup ties to date, and three of them have gone to penalties.<\/p>\n Birmingham City form (all competitions): D<\/strong><\/p>\n Sheffield United form (all competitions): L<\/strong><\/p>\n Team News<\/p>\n Birmingham City are still missing injured winger\u00a0Scott Wright<\/b><\/a> and German striker Marvin Ducksch, while Kanya Fujimoto is continuing to recover from a knee problem.\u00a0<\/p>\n Ahead of a weekend league trip to Blackburn Rovers, Chris Davies is set to rotate his resources, potentially handing new boys James Beadle and Eiran Cashin their first minutes.<\/p>\n Lyndon Dykes could be brought in up front, with either Jay Stansfield or Kyogo Furuhashi rested – perhaps even both.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Sheffield United may start\u00a0Djibril Soumare<\/b><\/a> <\/b>for the first time, after\u00a0Tyler Bindon<\/b><\/a> and Aston Villa loanee\u00a0Louie Barry<\/b><\/a> both made their competitive debut on Saturday.<\/p>\n Midfield trio\u00a0Oliver Arblaster<\/b><\/a>,\u00a0Tom Davies<\/b><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Jamie Shackleton<\/b><\/a>\u00a0are still absent through injury.<\/p>\n Birmingham City possible starting lineup:<\/strong>\u00a0Beadle; Laird, Cashin, Bielik, Cochrane; Doyle, Leonard; Gray, Willumsson, Anderson; Dykes<\/p>\n Sheffield United possible starting lineup:<\/strong>\u00a0Davies; Seriki, Bindon, Norrington-Davies, McCallum; Soumare; Ukaki, Peck, O\u2019Hare, Barry; Cannon<\/p>\n We say: Birmingham City 2-0 Sheffield United<\/p>\n With momentum on their side, 2011 EFL Cup winners Birmingham should sweep through to this year’s second round with another home win.<\/p>\n Sheffield United are still finding their feet under new management, while Blues have a well-established style and are incredibly tough to beat at St. Andrew\u2019s.<\/p>\n For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n![\"Sheffield](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/uploads\/2025\/06\/gh-6851fc11a25fa800693490.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Birmingham](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/24\/38\/chris-davies.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"SM](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/20\/33\/sm-words-green-background.png\" "\\"SM")
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![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/24\/46\/jonathan-oshea.jpg\"\/)
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