Lincoln City look to make it successive home victories as Birmingham City are the Halloween visitors to Sincil Bank this Saturday lunchtime.
Chris Davies’ side will be hoping to spook the Imps in a clash between the two most recent winners of League One.
Birmingham City Form
After a stuttering start to the season, which saw Birmingham draw their first two league matches before exiting the League Cup with a 6-1 thrashing by Premier League Brentford, their fortunes have been much improved since. There was the occasional bump in the road during September, notably a narrow reverse at struggling Norwich City, but the Blues took points off the promotion-chasing trio of Southampton, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Middlesbrough.
All three of those results came in the Second City, with Davies outfit minutes away from a memorable afternoon at St. Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park against the latter opponent, Boro. Two goals in four second-half minutes had turned the contest in favour of the home side, before the Teessiders levelled the scores in the dying embers of normal time. That result left Birmingham and Lincoln level on 11 points heading into the first international break of the campaign.
However, their response since the September internationals has been mightily impressive. Returning to action with another West Midlands derby, the Blues picked up maximum points at near neighbours West Bromwich Albion thanks to an August Priske penalty. That began a run of three consecutive victories without conceding, putting Preston North End and Queens Park Rangers to the sword in B9.
Priske scored twice in first-half stoppage time against the Lilywhites to add to Liam Millar’s strike earlier in the half against the Championship’s basement outfit. Demarai Gray put the gloss on a first home victory later in the match, after Preston had been reduced to 10 men following Stanley Mills second yellow card. If there were any questions regarding the opposition that evening, they were quickly answered with a statement three-point haul against QPR.
The Hoops, who thrashed early season leaders Swansea City last Saturday, were well beaten by Birmingham. Millar continued his hot streak in front of goal with a brace, while Gray wrapped up the points in the 91st minute to make it eight goals and nine points from three games. However, their strong run of form came to an end in South Wales last weekend against an ever-improving Cardiff City side.
In a rare off-day for Birmingham, they slipped to a first defeat in six against the recently promoted Bluebirds. Goalkeeper James Beadle denied goalscorer Yousef Salech from the penalty spot to avoid a more convincing scoreline. That result doesn’t alter what has been a strong month for the Blues, which has seen them climb to seventh place as they work towards a return to top-flight football for the first time since 2011.
Birmingham City Team News
Birmingham will remain without a handful of key players for the trip to Lincolnshire this weekend. Marc Leonard remains their only long-term absentee, with an Achilles injury set to keep him out until the early stages of 2027.
Summer signing Kristoffer Lund has missed all four matches this month, while Paik Seung-Ho returned early from international duties with South Korea at the end of September. There’s nothing massively concerning surrounding his unavailability as of late, but it sounds like he won’t return until after November’s set of international fixtures.
Speaking last week on his fitness, Davies revealed that patience is needed in order to not keep him sidelined for an extended period of action.
“Paik’s making slow progress. I think he’s still a few weeks away from it.
“He just took a knock, so we have to wait a little bit longer and be a bit more patient for it to recover. But he’s working hard at the other things to minimise that.”
Priske was missing from the Blues matchday squad last weekend in South Wales, and Davies is expected to update supporters on his fitness when he speaks to the press this week. Aside from that, the Blues appear to have enjoyed a fairly settled squad as of late, which has positively contributed to their strong recent form.
Summer Business
Birmingham’s transfer business has been under the microscope for the last few years, ever since they smashed the League One record multiple times en route to winning the division. There was limited squad turnover this summer, relative to their second-tier rivals, with Kai Wanger and Kyogo Furuhashi departing for pastures new in the MLS.
Three of the Blues’ four permanent signings came from abroad, with Jhon Solís and the currently injured Lund joining from the second tiers of Spanish and Italian football. Luis Vázquez, who made headlines for his barely believable open goal miss against Derby County, was acquired from Belgian outfit Anderlecht.
The remainder of their business came from England, including former Bristol City midfielder Max Bird. Dael Fry was an astute pick-up from Middlesbrough on a free transfer, while the loan signings of Beadle (Brighton & Hove Albion) and Millar (Hull City) have strengthened both ends of the pitch.
Previous Meetings
Lincoln faced Birmingham three times during the 24/25 campaign, with the Blues winning every meeting. Bailey Cadamarteri scored after 33 seconds in the most recent clash at Sincil Bank, but the Blues rallied to win 3-1. I remember the disappointment of drawing Birmingham in the FA Cup later that season, when in any other year it would have been a great tie. They were 2-1 victors on that occasion, before winning the reverse league meeting by a single goal in March 2025.
115 years have passed since Lincoln last beat this side from the Second City. Three of our four victories against the Blues came at the start of the 20th century, with two wins under their former name of Small Heath. Birmingham will be looking to extend their six-game winning streak against the Imps, while they are a remarkable 20 games unbeaten against ourselves. They have a 70% win ratio against City across 40 games between the clubs.
What Can We Expect?
Birmingham are a club on the up; there’s no question about that. They had become all too familiar with bottom-half finishes in this division during their 13 successive years as a Championship side before relegation to League One. After storming to the title with a record points tally, their 10th-place finish last term was met with plenty of groans for a team looking for a return to football’s top table.
Davies has changed his approach this term, with less of a focus on possession and more on getting the ball into promising areas. The Blues have a reputation for their strong home record, but they have actually been more impressive on their travels this term, winning three of their six matches to date. After a maximum points haul against Burnley last weekend, Lincoln should be wary of a completely different challenge from Birmingham this Saturday.
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