This feels like a really big opening night fixture in the second tier as the big spending, ambitious Birmingham City will want to lay down a marker against the last team to secure a double promotion from League One to the Premier League, Ipswich Town.

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📂 Birmingham v Ipswich Cheat Sheet

📈 Birmingham v Ipswich Form & Tactics

We all understood Birmingham City very well last season, as did all of League One. The problem was being able to stop it.

Very few League One teams got any points out of Birmingham, and even fewer put in a performance deserving of it. Chris Davies is a really talented coach, and he had the tools in his squad last season to play the way he wanted to.

It is likely that Davies will not want to change too much from the high possession style we saw from Birmingham last season, with a 4-2-3-1 style formation, using a double pivot to secure the centre of the pitch, stretching his defence high and wide, and using technical skill in the final third to create opportunities.

Kieran McKenna has had a long tenure by modern standards with Ipswich now. There is no doubt that the job he has done has transformed the club, but this season is his big test now, to replicate the success of 2023/24.

In terms of his tactics and style of play, Ipswich did make some concessions to the Premier League last season, despite what many onlookers may have thought. However, the quality of the individuals in this Ipswich squad should mean that they are able to return to a more dynamic pressing pattern with territorial and possession dominance in most matches.

McKenna also likes the 4-2-3-1 shape, but usually this changes to a three-man defence in possession to allow Leif Davis to step forward as a left winger, and the wide left forward to take up areas as a second #10.

🏁 Ref Watch

Andrew Kitchen

• Kitchen doesn’t have exciting stats from a cards perspective, averaging 3.18 cards per match in the Championship.

• This match will be Kitchen’s 51st at second tier level.

• He averages 24 fouls per match, which could be a better angle for bets with Kitchen in charge.

📊 Birmingham v Ipswich Key Stats

• Former League One teams have a very mediocre record in their first Championship match, winning the same number as they lose, with a draw an even more common result than either of those.

• Birmingham’s 111 points in League One last season is an all-time, all-division EFL record haul.

• Last season, Birmingham played over 100 more accurate passes per match than the next best team in the league (478).

• Ipswich managed 96 points in their last Championship season.

• From the top ten highest rated players from that season, only Leif Davis, Conor Chaplin, Wes Burns, Nathan Broadhead, and George Hirst remain; the others have been replaced.

• Ipswich won more than double the number of home points in their away matches in the Premier League (7-15).

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For additional value, check out these Birmingham v Ipswich Betting Stats, bet365 6 Scores Challenge Tips and our Paddy Power Beat The Drop Predictions.

* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.

* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.