Birmingham City predicted lineup v Swansea: ‘underwhelming’ midfielder dropped

Birmingham City have been struggling for goals, so Chris Davies could make several changes to his team to face Swansea City. | Getty Images

placeholder image — Birmingham City have been struggling for goals, so Chris Davies could make several changes to his team to face Swansea City. | Getty Images

Predicting Chris Davies’ Birmingham City lineup to face Swansea City at home in the Championship.

Birmingham City return to home soil this Saturday lunchtime to play host to Swansea City in the Championship.

Chris Davies will be looking for a response from his side at St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park following a disappointing 1-0 defeat away at Stoke City last time out. Bosun Lawal’s first-half goal was enough to secure the Potters all three points and make it back-to-back defeats for Birmingham.

Now down in 11th spot, Blues have four games before the next international break to get back on track. This weekend’s opponents won’t be easy to beat, however, as Swansea, in seventh, have lost just one of their opening five matches.

Davies could be tempted to make several changes to his starting XI, especially in attack. Blues have lacked creativity and haven’t had the clinical edge which served them so well last season. That’s something that needs correcting soon, otherwise the task of finishing in the play-offs will become all the more difficult.

Birmingham City predicted lineup vs Swansea

With all of that in mind, here’s the Blues starting XI we reckon Davies will name against the Swans.

GK: Ryan Allsop: Last season’s League One Golden Glove winner has remained as Blues’ first-choice goalkeeper. Brighton loanee James Beadle is waiting in the wings, though, and offers strong competition.

RB - Bright Osayi-Samuel: Davies will be tempted to bring Osayi-Samuel back in for Ethan Laird at right-back. Both are good options but Osayi-Samuel has offered a bit more to start the season.

CB - Christoph Klarer: The new captain is pivotal to this squad and he can expect to start every single Championship fixture if he remains fit. There aren’t many in the division better in the air than Klarer.

CB - Phil Neumann: Signed on a free from Hannover, Neumann has started alongside Klarer from the off. Swapping Neumann to left centre-back is a subtle change that could work nicely. He played there for Hannover at times.

LB - Alex Cochrane: Despite having a really poor game at Stoke, Cochrane is unlikely to be benched. Davies is a big advocate of the left-back and will be confident of a response.

CM - Tomoki Iwata: It’s been a tough start to the season for Iwata, but we all know what he’s capable of. Hopefully he can step up his game sooner rather than later.

CM - Paik Seung-ho: Deciding who partners Iwata each week has been difficult for Davies. Paik probably just about nudges in ahead of Tommy Doyle, who could be benched after an underwhelming display at Stoke.

RW - Patrick Roberts: An exciting addition from Sunderland, Roberts will be eager to make more of an impact in his second start than he did his first. Blues have missed the presence of an out-and-out winger on the right.

CAM - Marvin Ducksch: There was a noticeable lack of height against Stoke, so Davies could opt for £1.7m signing Ducksch in the number 10 role. The German is renowned for his hold-up play.

LW - Demarai Gray: Capable of playing on either flank, Gray has moved to the left to facilitate Roberts’ arrival. The winger is yet to score since his return to the club but the goal is surely coming.

ST - Jay Stansfield: The England Under-21 international likes to make runs into the channels rather than hold off and Kyogo Furuhashi has been poor in his recent outings. Stansfield should get the nod.