Hull City head to the West Midlands this weekend to take on a Birmingham side who are unbeaten at home this season – and they’re not shy about it. With 2 wins and 2 draws from 4 home games in the league, the Blues are quietly building a fortress at St. Andrew’s, and they’ll be looking to extend their unbeaten home run to 30 matches heading back to last season’s League One campaign.

Chris Davies’ men sit 16th in the table, level on points with City, but have been inconsistent. Their last three games have yielded just two points, including a 1-1 draw at Wrexham. Still, with a solid defensive record at home (just 3 goals conceded in 4 games), they’ll be confident despite a flurry of injuries further up the pitch.

Hull, meanwhile, are coming off a gritty 1-0 win over Sheffield United and will be hoping to build on that momentum. Sergej Jakirović’s side have shown flashes of promise, but with 2 league points from a possible 12 away from the MKM, they’ll need to dig deep to get anything here.

Oli McBurnie: Player of the Month and Man of the Moment
Let’s take a moment to appreciate Oli McBurnie, who was recently crowned Championship Player of the Month for September. The big Scot has been in red-hot form, with 10 goal contributions in 9 league games – including 5 goals in September. He’s not just scoring, he’s linking play, bullying defenders, and generally being the striker we’ve been crying out for.

Injury News
Out:
- John Lundstram (calf)
- Mohamed Belloumi (hamstring)
- Eliot Matazo (ACL)
- Joel Ndala (foot)
- Kyle Joseph (illness)

Birmingham are also missing Demarai Gray, Marvin Ducksch, Lee Buchanan, and Ethan Laird – all key players.

Form Guide
Birmingham (last 5): D-D-L-W-L
Hull (last 5): W-D-L-W-D

City’s away form has been patchy, but they’ve shown they can grind out points. Birmingham, on the other hand, have failed to live up to the pre-season predictions of title challengers.

Likely Hull City Starting XI
Pandur
Coyle – Egan – Hughes – Giles
Hadziahmetovic – Slater
Akintola – Gelhardt – Millar
McBurnie

No Lundstram as he’s out for the next month with a calf injury. Crooks, Ndala and Semi Ajayi, who had a scare on International duty when the plane he was travelling in with his Nigerian teammates was forced to make an emergency landing following a cracked windscreen, should feature from the bench.

Did You Know?
- Hull have won 10 of the last 21 meetings with Birmingham, losing just 5.
- Birmingham are unbeaten in 29 home games in all competitions.
- Ryan Giles has assisted five of McBurnie’s goals this season – a partnership that’s starting to look like a cheat code.

Prediction
Let’s be honest – this is going to be tough. But if there’s one thing Hull City do well, it’s ruining other people’s parties. I’m going for a gritty, slightly undeserved, but thoroughly enjoyable:

Birmingham City 1 – 2 Hull City
UTT