PREVIEW: Birmingham City vs Sunderland - How to watch, stat pack and referee
Sunderland supporters can expect to see a few familiar faces this weekend as they travel to St Andrew’s to take on Birmingham City.
There have been an unusual amount of crossovers between the two clubs in recent times. Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, coaches Mike Dodds and Stuart English and midfielder Jobe Bellingham all came to Sunderland from the Midlands club.
Meanwhile, Tony Mowbray and Alex Pritchard have made the opposite journey.
Anyway, here is all you need to know about the game this weekend.
The Opposition
After a superb start to the season under John Eustace, things haven’t really gone as hoped for Birmingham City.
The Blues currently sit 18th in the Championship table, with 35 points from 31 matches.
Birmingham have won two of their last five games, those wins coming against Stoke City and Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night.
The Gaffer
There will be a familiar face in the opposition dugout in Tony Mowbray. Sunderland’s most recent manager joined Birmingham on the 8th of January, following the sacking of Wayne Rooney.
Mowbray has three wins one draw and three defeats in his first seven matches so far as the new Birmingham City manager.
May this year will mark 20 years in permanent management for Tony Mowbray. He was in charge at Ipswich for a short time, but he was only in a caretaker role.
He started his full managerial career up in Scotland at Hibernian, before going on to manage West Brom, Celtic, Middlesbrough, Coventry, Blackburn and then Sunderland.
His longest spell as a manager was at Blackburn where he spent five years at the club and managed over 250 games. He also managed the likes of Harvey Elliot, Tyrhys Dolan, Ben Brereton Diaz and current Sunderland midfielder Bradley Dack, whilst at the Lancashire side.
The Squad
There are a few players to look out for, for Birmingham on Saturday, one of which is Jay Stansfield.
Stansfield has caught the eye of quite a few clubs over the season with his impressive performances and had been linked with a move away from Brimingham during the January window.
Another few players to look out for are Siriki Dembele, Jordan James and Koji Myoshi.
There are a few familiar faces for Sunderland fans in the Birmingham squad too.
Dion Sanderson and Alex Pritchard now don the blue of Birmingham, but both are set to miss Saturday’s game.
Sanderson is out with an ankle injury and Pritchard out with a calf problem.
Earlier This Season
Sunderland ran out 3-1 winners when they played Birmingham back on Remembrance Day.
Birmingham academy graduate Jobe Bellingham opened the scoring for Sunderland, ending his three-month goal drought. Koji Myoshi then put Birmingham level on the half hour mark.
In the second half, Dion Sanderson put the ball into the back of his own net trying to block Trai Hume’s header back across goal then Adil Aouchiche put the game to bed after putting away a Jack Clarke cross.
Who is the Referee for Birmingham vs Sunderland
Stephen Martin will be in charge, and that hasn’t always been great news for Sunderland.
To be fair, he only started officiating Sunderland matches 2018 just as everything was falling apart for the club, so we can’t really blame him!
That said, five of his last six matches involving Sunderland have ended in defeat for the Black Cats. The other one was a win against Birmingham, though.
Martin will be assisted at St Andrews by Mark Dwyer and Mark Russell. Meanwhile, Martin Woods will be on fourth official duty.
The Game in Numbers
3 – The most common result between Birmingham and Sunderland, when Birmingham is playing at home is 0-0 and that has happened 3 times
3 – there have been three previous managers who have both managed Birmingham and Sunderland. Tony Mowbray, Steve Bruce and Malcom Crosby, who was caretaker in 2014.
36 – Sunderland have scored 36 goals against Birmingham City in the last 29 meetings.
Birmingham vs Sunderland Stat Pack
As per the EFL Website:
Birmingham City have lost their last three league games against Sunderland, their worst losing run against the Black Cats since September 1997.
Sunderland have won just one of their last nine away league matches against Birmingham (D3 L5) but it was in their most recent trip last season, a 2-1 win.
Birmingham manager Tony Mowbray has already managed in this fixture this season when he was Sunderland manager, leading them to a 3-1 win over Birmingham in November at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland have only won one of their last 15 away league matches played on Saturdays (D7 L7), a 3-1 win over QPR in September 2023.
Birmingham City won 1-0 in their last home league game against Blackburn Rovers – the Blues last won consecutively on home soil in October (vs Huddersfield and West Brom).
How to watch Birmingham vs Sunderland
Due to the 3pm blackout restrictions, Birmingham v Sunderland will not be broadcast live in the UK.
For international users and those with a VPN though, it is available to stream on SAFC Live.
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