West Bromwich Albion host Birmingham City in a local derby at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.

The Baggies are currently second in the EFL Championship table, three points off of top spot while the Blues sit 16th, four points above the relegation zone.

Team news

Matt Clarke will be back in the West Brom side and the Brighton and Hove Albion loanee should slot into the Baggies' back three. Matt Phillips may also start in place of Jordan Hugill.

Dara O'Shea remains out for the hosts with a fractured ankle suffered last month.

Birmingham will be without Ivan Sanchez, who is nursing a groin injury. Adan George is struggling with an ACL injury and is also unlikely to feature.

Predicted line-ups

West Bromwich Albion: Johnstone; Ajayi, Bartley, Clarke; Furlong, Livermore, Mowatt, Townsend; Phillips, Robinson, Grant

Birmingham City: Sarkic; Pedersen, Dean, Roberts; Bela, Sunjic, Woods, Chong, Colin; Hogan, Jutkiewicz

Ones to watch

Jay Ajayi (West Bromwich Albion)

In a game that the Baggies didn't play well in, especially at the back, Ajayi stood out and is improving each week. He was able to read the play against Stoke brilliantly, cut out the danger and cleared off the goal line prior to the Potters' penalty.

Embed from Getty Images

Tahith Chong (Birmingham City)

Was a bright spot for the Blues in their most recent defeat to Nottingham Forest, hitting the post with a shot, sent in some lovely set-pieces and forced a good save out of Brice Samba late on.

Previous meetings

The last two matchups saw completely opposite games with West Brom winning 3-2 at St. Andrews, Charlie Austin second-half brace overturning a 2-1 deficit.

The reverse fixture produced a goalless draw in June 2020 with the Baggies attempting 20 shots to just two for the Blues.

How to watch

The match will be available on Sky Sports in the UK. For non-UK viewers, both teams will provide coverage on WBA TV Matchday and BluesTV. Kick-off is set for 20:00 BST.

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