Eng. Championship
2026-09-19 - Birmingham City vs Middlesbrough
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Championship
Saturday 19th September 2026 - Kick Off 3pm
Birmingham City
The extra Play Off places available to teams in the Championship will have increased the pressure on some of the clubs with big ambitions, which most certainly includes Birmingham City. Chris Davies is well aware of the increased expectations around the club, although the manager continues to remind the supporters that Birmingham City are only in their second season back in the second tier of English Football.
The Blues are 10th in the Championship table, which is beginning to take shape now that seven League games have been played by most clubs, and the 10 points on the board are a decent enough return. Turning a few draws into wins will be the next challenge for Chris Davies and Birmingham City will be especially looking to do that at St Andrew's where they have a 0-3-0 record in the Division.
Birmingham City had failed to win any of 3 League games in succession, but snapped that run with an important 1-2 win at Derby County last weekend. All 3 Championship home games have ended in score draws against Bristol City, Southampton and Wolves, but Birmingham City were thumped 1-6 here by Brentford in the League Cup Second Round. The side had ended last season with 3 consecutive home wins so they are unbeaten in 6 home League games.
Middlesbrough
The League Cup Third Round is split over two midweeks and that meant Middlesbrough had to postpone a Championship fixture to this past Tuesday. They fought back for a 2-2 draw with Millwall at the Riverside Stadium, but manager Kim Hellberg will be looking for improvement from his players.
Failure to beat Millwall did prevent Middlesbrough from moving to the top of the Championship standings, but they are still 3rd in the table and have earned 14 points already. The side will be heading to the West Midlands with a 1-1-1 away record where Middlesbrough have scored and conceded 3 goals.
Middlesbrough were beaten 3-0 at Selhurst Park in the League Cup Third Round, but they are unbeaten in 5 Championship fixtures and had won 2 in a row before the draw on Tuesday. Prior to the win at Queens Park Rangers, Middlesbrough had not won any of the previous 7 away League games played.
Head to Head
It is Middlesbrough who won both League games between these clubs last season.
They secured a 1-3 win here at St Andrew's in March and Middlesbrough have now won on each of the last 5 visits to this ground.
Prediction
Both of these former Premier League clubs will have real ambitions to get back into the top flight as soon as possible, but it is Middlesbrough who are perhaps that much closer to achieving that.
While Birmingham City are still looking to show improvement at this level having only returned from League One last season, Middlesbrough reached the Play Off Final and Kim Hellberg is looking for that experience to help his squad take a step further forward.
Chris Davies and Kim Hellberg will both be very happy with what they have seen early in the season from the respective teams, although there is still some real room for improvement. They will look to work on those during the upcoming international break, but that will be easier to do behind a victory and both Birmingham City and Middlesbrough are capable.
Birmingham City have looked pretty decent getting forward, but they have still struggled with the balance between attack and the defensive work needed. That could be exploited by a Middlesbrough team who have scored six goals over the last seven days in League action, although Kim Hellberg's team also need to show a bit more defensive resilience having conceded five goals in that time too.
We could be getting more goals on Saturday, although the 1-1 score is perhaps the one that would be the most concerning.
However, both games finished with at least three goals shared out when these clubs met last season and backing that number to be reached again is the opening selection from the Championship.
The Pick :
Birmingham City 2-1 Middlesbrough
