Birmingham City and Aston Villa eager for play-off boost this weekend

Grealish
Grealish

Birmingham City and Aston Villa go head-to-head in the Championship on Sunday with both sides eager to boost their play-off hopes.

The Blues are eighth in the table, four points behind sixth-placed Bristol City. Villa are 11th in the standings, just two points adrift of their local rivals.

Villa won the reverse fixture 4-2, but Sky Sports‘ pundit David Prutton has tipped Birmingham to bag a 2-2 draw on home soil.

“This is a Second City derby with plenty at stake – both sides still have a shout at the play-offs and three points would go a long way to achieving that for either,” he said.

“Jack Grealish was brilliant when these teams met at Villa Park earlier in the season and you can see how important he is to the side with his performance against Derby last week.

“This is a close call, though, and I can’t split the pair.”

Villa have dominated Birmingham in recent times, losing just one of their last 15 meetings with their local rivals in all competitions.

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