There’s just the one match on Sunday in the Championship but nevertheless an intriguing one as the lunchtime kick-off features a clash between Swansea City and Birmingham City at the Liberty Stadium with both managers of each team keen to add to their points tally here.
Taking a look at Swansea City first, and the hosts have made an impressive start to their new Championship campaign under new manager, Steve Cooper, who replaced former boss, Graham Potter, who left to take over at Brighton.
It’s well known that The Swans also sold last season’s leading goalscorer, Oliver McBurnie, to Sheffield United and winger, Daniel James to Manchester United, but Swansea haven’t missed a step as they’ve collected 3 wins from their first 4 matches of the season.
Wins against Hull City, Preston North End and QPR along with a point away at Derby County in a 0-0 draw have given the Welsh club a great platform to build from, and confidence will no doubt be high in the Swansea camp prior to Sunday’s clash against Birmingham City.
👌 The one-two🎯 The finish🙇♂️ The celebration pic.twitter.com/qoh3siwT77— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) August 22, 2019
👌 The one-two🎯 The finish🙇♂️ The celebration pic.twitter.com/qoh3siwT77
Onto Birmingham City then, and the visitors also head into Sunday’s encounter in Wales at the Liberty Stadium in confident mood having also secured all three points during the week with a solid 2-0 home win over newly promoted Barnsley at St Andrews.
An earlier 1-0 win away at Brentford on the opening day of the new Championship season was followed by a point in a 1-1 draw at home with Bristol City, and although they suffered a heavy 3-0 loss away at Nottingham Forest last weekend, Pep Clotet’s team bounced back straight away.
It looks like being another season of consolidation for the visitors who lost some key personnel during the summer months with the likes of forwards Adams and Vassell leaving the club along with midfielder Jota and defender Morrison, but Birmingham stand a decent chance of leaving Wales with at least a point here.
The Blues have lost just 1 of their last 5 matches away from home in the Championship but they’ll do well to score as many goals on the road this season as they did last term considering the departures.
Instead, it looks like Swansea and Birmingham may well cancel each other out here as a draw could be on the cards at the Liberty Stadium.