West Brom vs Birmingham: Morrison's side are unbeaten at the Hawthorns in the league, and Birmingham cannot stop drawing
By Margus Sellin · · 5 min
Championship · Matchday 9
West Brom
Birmingham
- Kick-off
- Venue
- The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
- Referee
- Gavin Ward
Our call: a draw, 1–1
Jimmy-Jay Morgan's fitness against a Birmingham side that turns games into draws.
Logged 9 Oct, 09:30 CEST, never edited. We'll mark this call after full time.
In 30 seconds
- West Brom are fifth and unbeaten at the Hawthorns in the league: two wins and two draws.
- Birmingham have won only two of their eight Championship games, and the last two derbies finished level.
- Albion's home record ends up intact, but they do not win this one.
The story
James Morrison has made a steady start to his first full season as West Brom head coach. He took the job for good in April after Eric Ramsay's short spell, and eight games into this one Albion are fifth with 14 points. Nobody has beaten them at the Hawthorns in the league: they beat Burnley and Watford and drew with QPR and Charlton. Their last game before the break, though, was a 1–0 defeat at Wolves on Sun 20 Sep, settled by a defensive mistake. "You can't gift goals like that," Morrison said afterwards.
Chris Davies's Birmingham are tenth with 11 points and have a habit. They have drawn five of their eight league games, four of them at St Andrew's, and both of their wins came away, at Derby and Wrexham. They score in most games, but they also let goals in: Middlesbrough, Wolves and Bristol City all scored twice against them.
The question for Morrison is Jimmy-Jay Morgan. The striker has 5 of West Brom's 16 goals in their last ten games, and he pulled out of England Under-20 duty with a knock. Callum Styles left the Hungary squad for the same reason. Albion's medical staff say they hope both will be back in contention.
A win would take Albion to 17 points, level with the leaders Swansea before the rest of the round is played. A Birmingham win would lift them to 14, level with Albion. This game is decided by whether Morgan can get the better of Phil Neumann and the Birmingham centre-backs.
Form
Latest →
West Brom
- 20 SepL0–1at WOLCH
- 12 SepD1–1v QPRCH
- 9 SepW1–0at DERCH
- 5 SepW1–0v WATCH
- 2 SepD1–1v CHACH
Four goals in these five, never more than one in a game.
Birmingham
- 19 SepD2–2v MIDCH
- 12 SepW2–1at DERCH
- 9 SepL1–2at NORCH
- 6 SepD2–2v WOLCH
- 1 SepD1–1v SOUCH
Three draws in five, all at home.
Latest on the left. CH = Championship. OddsIntel match database, read 8 Oct 2026.
Team news
West Brom
- DoubtfulJimmy-Jay Morgan: left England Under-20 duty with a minor knock; the club's medical director is hopeful he is back in contention. Albion's main goal threat.(reported)
- DoubtfulCallum Styles: withdrew from the Hungary squad with a minor knock, same hope from the club. He started at full-back against Wolves.(reported)
- OutNolan Galves: a knee injury, reported as season-ending.(reported)
- OutMikey Johnston: a broken leg.(reported)
Birmingham
- OutDemarai Gray: listed out with a muscle injury. He has 2 goals in Birmingham's last ten games, so Davies loses one of his scorers.(reported)
- OutMax Bird: a calf injury.(reported)
- OutTaylor Gardner-Hickman: a hamstring injury.(reported)
- OutMarc Leonard: an Achilles injury; reported to be out until at least January.(reported)
Line-ups: confirmed about an hour before kick-off. They'll go under Updates. We don't publish guessed XIs.
Checked Thu 8 Oct 17:10 CEST: the API-Football injury list, the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, BirminghamWorld, Sky Sports, bcfc.com and Football League World. Reported = not yet confirmed by the club.
All of West Brom's top scorers started at Wolves. Birmingham's scorers in their last ten are spread thin: Carlos Vicente, Phil Neumann, August Priske and Gray have 2 each. Priske did not start the 2–2 with Middlesbrough on Sat 19 Sep, and the outlets we checked give no injury or reason for it.
Starting line-ups from each side's last game, not a guess at the next ones. West Brom at Wolves (20 Sep): O'Leary; Styles, Phillips, Campbell, Townsend; Whitwell, Molumby, Diakité, Price; Heggebø, Morgan. Birmingham against Middlesbrough (19 Sep, 4-2-3-1): Beadle; Osayi-Samuel, Neumann, Klarer, Cochrane; Iwata, Solís; Vicente, Stansfield, Millar; Vázquez.
Who to watch
The duel to watch: Jimmy-Jay Morgan against Phil Neumann. Morgan, Albion's top scorer, plays up front alongside Aune Heggebø. Neumann, in the middle of Birmingham's back four, is also one of their scorers, with 2 goals in their last ten. If Morgan is fit, he tests Neumann, and Isaac Price arrives from midfield behind him.
West Brom
Jimmy-Jay Morgan
Albion's top scorer, if the knock has cleared.
- 5
- goals, West Brom's last 10
West Brom
Isaac Price
Arrives late from midfield, Albion's second scorer.
- 4
- goals, West Brom's last 10
Birmingham
Carlos Vicente
Starts wide in the three behind the striker.
- 2
- goals, Birmingham's last 10
Goals in each side's last ten games, all competitions. OddsIntel match database, read 8 Oct 2026.
Head-to-head
The last two league meetings were draws, 1–1 at the Hawthorns and 0–0 at St Andrew's. The five include a pre-season friendly in 2024.
Result for West Brom
- 10 Feb 2026Birmingham v West BromChampionship, Birmingham0–0D
- 26 Nov 2025West Brom v BirminghamChampionship, West Bromwich1–1D
- 3 Aug 2024Birmingham v West BromFriendly, Birmingham4–1L
- 3 Feb 2024West Brom v BirminghamChampionship, West Bromwich1–0W
- 6 Oct 2023Birmingham v West BromChampionship, Birmingham3–1L
The last five meetings, friendlies included. OddsIntel match database, read 8 Oct 2026.
Numbers that matter
Goals scored, last ten: West Brom 16.0, Birmingham 14.0 (higher is better)
Close. Birmingham's total includes their one goal in a 1–6 home League Cup defeat by Brentford.
Goals conceded, last ten · fewer is better: West Brom 12.0, Birmingham 17.0 (lower is better)
Albion concede fewer, though six of Birmingham's 17 came in one League Cup game against Brentford.
Draws, last ten · fewer is better: West Brom 2.0, Birmingham 5.0 (lower is better)
The surprise: Birmingham have drawn as many as they have won and lost put together.
Last ten games each, all competitions (two League Cup games each). OddsIntel match database, read 8 Oct 2026.
Our call, explained
We have it 1–1. Albion have not scored more than once in any of their last five, and Birmingham find a goal in most games. Davies's side, missing Gray, Bird and Gardner-Hickman, are unlikely to beat a side that has conceded 12 in ten. Morgan carries Albion's goals, and a striker coming back from a knock is a reason to expect one goal, not two.
Where this could go wrong. A fully fit Morgan with Price arriving behind him could give West Brom a second goal against a Birmingham defence that let in two each to Middlesbrough, Norwich and Wolves in September. Birmingham could also win it: they scored twice at Derby and Wrexham, and Albion lost at Wolves to one mistake. Of the two, an Albion win is the likelier miss.
Updates
Nothing has changed since we published. Next: confirmed line-ups, about an hour before kick-off.
Data note: results, scorers, the table, injuries and line-ups from our database (API-Football), read 8 Oct 12:10 UTC; team news and match details from the Express & Star, Shropshire Star, BirminghamWorld, Sky Sports, bcfc.com, Football League World and PA.