Swansea v Birmingham

[jackaway]

Swansea v Birmingham Sat 17 Jan 17:30
Our latest opponents Birmingham are back in the Championship after a season in League One in which they ran away with the title, amassing 34 wins and 111 points after spending 25m in doing so, with 12m on one player Jay Stansfield from Fulham.
Relegation to League One provided them with a reset and a better opportunity to invest more in players without breaking FFP rules.
The excessive spending continued with 21m on players last summer but half-way into the season they are only two points and three places above us on 34 points. Strong at home with only one defeat but not too good away with two wins from 13 matches. They last won an away league match 8 games ago, a 0-1 win at Preston last October. Their manager is Chris Davies since June 2024. He is an ex-Swan and was a coach here under Brendan Rogers.
The reverse fixture ended in a 1-0 defeat for the Swans with a Dykes header in the 94th minute after a Vipotnik goal was ruled out for off-side in the first-half (replays showed he was on-side).
Swans, after defeat at Millwall and defeat at home in the FA Cup need to start winning again. Chance after chance went begging against West Brom, we just could not find the winner and lost in the penalty shootout lottery. Coupled with two preventable goals against with deputy goalie Fisher not commanding his area it will be a welcome return for Vigouroux who was outstanding against Millwall.