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Birmingham City will host Nottingham Forest at St. Andrew's on Saturday in a friendly clash between the two clubs. The hosts will be looking to return to winning ways in their final preseason fixture to lift team spirits going into the new season.
Birmingham have had a decent pre-season campaign thus far with three wins out of six games but were defeated 3-0 by Northampton in their last game. The Blues return to Championship football next weekend after gaining automatic promotion with an outstanding performance in the third division last season and will be hoping to at least stay up by season's end.
Nottingham Forest are yet to win any of their four pre-season games thus far, with their most recent game ending in a goalless draw against Portuguese outfit Estoril Praia. The Premier League side were spectacular last season, earning European qualification for the first time in three decades and Nuno Espirito Santo will hope to prepare his side ahead of another competitive campaign.
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Following Saturday's game, the Blues will face Ipswich in their Championship opener next week while the Reds will continue their pre-season campaign against Fiorentina.
Birmingham City vs Nottingham Forest Head-to-Head and Key Numbers
- The sides have met on 111 previous occasions going into this weekend's friendly. Birmingham have won 41 of those games, 36 have ended in draws while Forest have won the remaining 36.
- The two teams last faced off in a Championship clash back in April 2022 which the Garibaldis won 2-0.
- The hosts have failed to get on the scoresheet in three of the last five editions of this fixture.
- The visitors are undefeated in their last four games in this fixture.
- Birmingham finished the just concluded EFL League One season with the best offensive and defensive records in the division with 84 goals scored and only 31 conceded.
Birmingham City vs Nottingham Forest Prediction
Birmingham are underdogs going into the weekend but will remain focused on putting up a good performance and maintaining fitness ahead of the fast approaching season.
Forest will need to improve on their recent lapses to get their first win of the preseason campaign when they take the trip to Birmingham.
Prediction: Birmingham City 0-2 Nottingham Forest
Birmingham City vs Nottingham Forest Betting Tips
Tip 1 - Result: Forest
Tip 2 - Goals - Over/under 2.5 - Under 2.5 goals (Four of the visitors' last five games have produced fewer than 2.5 goals)
Tip 3 - Both teams to score: No (Both sides have found the back of the net in just one of the visitors' last five games)
