STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Mon: Birmingham v Middlesbrough

Football neutrals will have plenty to entertain themselves with tonight as Birmingham meet Middlesbrough in a pivotal encounter at St Andrews, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

The promotion race this year has already has a thousand twists and turns, and in recent weeks most of them have involved tonight’s two teams. Middlesbrough went to the top of the table three weeks ago when they won at Sheffield United, only to be well beaten by Coventry before being held at home by relegation battlers Oxford and Leicester.

Birmingham, shooting for a return to the promised land of the Premier League with big money investment looking forwards into the future, lost their first league game of 2026 when going down 3-0 against third place Millwall, when the red card John Solis picked up didn’t make a material change to the result.

Middlesbrough come here under serious pressure. table-toppers Coventry extended their lead to eight points thanks to Saturday’s 2-1 win over Stoke, whilst there’s plenty of pressure from behind as Millwall, Ipswich and Hull make up a dangerous chasing pack.

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Birmingham v Middlesbrough
Championship
20:00 Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Premier League / Sky Sports Ultra HDR

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
NOV 2025 CHAMPIONSHIP Middlesbrough 2-1 Birmingham
MAR 2024 CHAMPIONSHIP Birmingham 0-1 Middlesbrough
OCT 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP Middlesbrough 1-0 Birmingham
JAN 2023 CHAMPIONSHIP Birmingham 1-3 Middlesbrough
OCT 2022 CHAMPIONSHIP Middlesbrough 1-0 Birmingham

BIRMINGHAM
FEB 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Millwall 3-0 Birmingham
FEB 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Norwich 1-2 Birmingham
FEB 2026 FA CUP Birmingham 1-1 Leeds
FEB 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Birmingham 0-0 West Brom
FEB 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Birmingham 2-1 Leicester

MIDDLESBROUGH
FEB 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Middlesbrough 1-1 Leicester
FEB 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Middlesbrough 0-0 Oxford
FEB 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Coventry 3-1 Middlesbrough
FEB 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Sheff Utd 1-2 Middlesbrough
JAN 2026 CHAMPIONSHIP Middlesbrough 1-0 Norwich

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Birmingham’s recent form hasn’t been red hot, but at St Andrews, they are a formidable force. They have lost just once at St Andrews in the Championship all season and they’ve only lost once since New Year’s Day to boot.

Middlesbrough have gone through a rough patch, although nobody should deny the quality that they have will make them tough to beat anywhere – Middlesbrough have lost just one of their last nine Championship game.

Against the top six, Birmingham have only won two of eight games (D2 L4) but all bar one of those defeats came on the road and it wouldn’t be a surprise at all, if this was a game that both sides were too good to lose. The draw is fairly priced with starsports.bet and should give backers a solid run for their money in a vital game this evening.

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