Birmingham City vs Sunderland Prediction: Blues coming off win against Blackburn

Birmingham City will welcome Sunderland at St. Andrew's Stadium in Game Week 33 of the English Championship. Blues are coming off a win against Blackburn. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

After suffering three consecutive defeats in the Championship and the FA Cup, Birmingham finally clinched a much-needed victory against Blackburn, thanks to Andre Dozzell's winning goal in the 77th minute. This triumph was celebrated with great enthusiasm by the players and fans at St Andrew's as it provided the team with three crucial points in their fight for safety.

During the match, Birmingham created numerous scoring opportunities, but both Tyler Roberts and Marc Roberts failed to capitalize on them. However, Dozzell, on loan from Queens Park Rangers, managed to find the back of the net past Blackburn's goalkeeper, Aynsley Pears, bringing a sense of relief to everyone involved and securing the team's first win in four games.

Following a defeat for Marti Cifuentes's QPR against fellow relegation contenders Stoke City, Birmingham's Wednesday evening victory propelled them to 18th place in the Championship standings. They now sit six points clear of the feared relegation zone and are only six points away from Watford, who currently occupy 12th place.

Paik Seung-ho, who made his full debut for Birmingham after joining in January, delivered an impressive performance in midfield. The 26-year-old showcased both skill and determination, perfectly embodying manager Tony Mowbray's vision of a team that can dominate matches.

Although Birmingham has struggled in recent encounters with Sunderland, having lost to them three times since their return to the Championship in 2022, they can take comfort in the fact that they no longer have to contend with the talents of Amad Diallo, who scored the winning goals in both matches against Birmingham last season.

Ruddy; Drameh, Bielik, Roberts, Laird; Dozzell, Paik, Bacuna, Miyoshi, James; Stansfield

Sunderland encountered a setback in their early stages under Michael Beale's leadership, suffering a 1-0 defeat to struggling Huddersfield on Wednesday. Despite having possession and creating numerous goal-scoring opportunities, Sunderland returned home without any points, as Matthew Pearson capitalized on a fortuitous deflection to secure the victory for Huddersfield in the first half.

While some Sunderland fans doubt Beale's ability to guide the team back to the Premier League, the Black Cats are only one point behind Coventry City in the race for a playoff spot. However, Norwich City, Hull City, and Preston North seem to be performing better recently.

Jobe Bellingham, who joined Sunderland from Birmingham City in the summer transfer window, is expected to face his former club on Saturday at St Andrew's, which will be a sold-out event. This will be a new experience for Bellingham, as he did not have the opportunity to witness such a crowd during his short first-team career at Birmingham City.

Sunderland heavily relies on the goal-scoring abilities of Jack Clarke, who has scored 14 goals and provided four assists in 32 Championship appearances this season.

Patterson; Hume, Ballard, O'Nien, Pembele; Neil, Roberts, Bellingham, Ekwah, Clarke; Burstow

St. Andrew's Knighthead Park is expected to be completely sold out for the first time in five years, as Saturday promises to be a delightful day for Birmingham fans. Although Sunderland is likely to show improvement after their performance at Huddersfield earlier this week, we believe it won't be sufficient to secure a positive outcome this weekend.