On Saturday, Birmingham City welcome Hull City to the St Andrews Trillion Trophy Stadium on Matchday 37 of the EFL Championship. Coming into this game, Birmingham City are currently 18th on the EFL Championship table, and Hull City are in 20th position. Both teams will look to win this encounter to distance themselves from the relegation zone and finish mid-table. Birmingham are currently 16 points away from relegation, whereas Hull are 13 points clear of relegation. Both teams have 10 fixtures remaining this season.
Birmingham are coming off a 2-1 victory against Bristol City at the Ashton Gate Stadium. Tahith Chong and Nico Gordon scored the goals for Birmingham City. After this victory against Bristol City, Birmingham have won 10 games, drawn 10, and lost 16 games so far this season. They have a goal difference of -14. xG predicted Birmingham to score 42 goals so far, and they have scored exactly that many goals.
As per the shooting stats mentioned on the right, it looks like Birmingham are relying on Irish striker Scott Hogan, who has scored 10 goals this season. The Irishman has outperformed his xG by just over two goals. The second-highest scorer, Gary Gardner, has only half the number of goals Hogan has.
The most successful threat creator for Birmingham City is defender Marc Roberts. A huge chunk of his threat comes from his throw-ins. From open play, it is the goalkeeper, Matija Sarkic, who creates the most xT. The following four players have the joint-most for the team – two assists each: Troy Deeney, Riley McGree, Tahith Chong, and Jeremie Bela.
Hull suffered their second loss in three games after they lost 0-2 to West Bromwich Albion at home. This is the second consecutive home game for Hull without scoring a goal, after they lost 0-2 to Barnsley on 22nd February. Their lack of goals explains the league position they are in currently. They have scored the third-fewest goals this season.
Hull City’s poor attacking displays can be seen in the above chart as they are ranked only in the 31st percentile in goals per 90. Hull City are also underachieving on xG per 90, ranking in the 44th percentile. Defensively though, they are performing well, ranking in the 80th percentile or above in many categories.
Birmingham will look to win this game to distance themselves further from the drop zone. If Hull City win this game, they will be level on points with Birmingham City and will also surpass them, thanks to their superior goal difference (-11 for Hull compared to -14 for Birmingham).
