Southampton v Birmingham City
Championship | St. Mary's Stadium
Saturday, 28 October 2023 @ 12.30pm
Southampton face a challenge to maintain their high-scoring form at home against a tight Birmingham City defence on Saturday.
With 21 goals in 13 games, Southampton are the joint-fourth-highest scorers in the Championship ahead of the 12.30pm kick-off at St. Mary's.
They face a Blues side who have scored 15 in 13 matches, but conceded only 14 goals, putting them joint-third among the league's tightest defences – only Leicester City and Ipswich Town have conceded fewer goals.
In Adam Armstrong, Southampton have one of the league's most on-form strikers so far this season. He has notched seven goals in 13 appearances, to sit second in the scoring charts.
Birmingham's top scorers, with three goals each, are Siriki Dembele and Jay Stansfield.
The Saints are fifth in the table after 13 games, of which they have won six and drawn three, earning 21 points.
City are seven places behind the home team in 12th, with five wins and three draws putting them on 18 points.
Southampton are in reasonable form in the Championship, with three wins and two draws from their last six games.
With two wins and a draw over that period, the Blues' form is worse – they have taken seven points from 18, compared to Southampton's 11.
Southampton's last match was on Wednesday, a 2-2 draw against Preston North End, with Walker-Peters getting the goals for the Saints.
Birmingham lost 2-0 against Hull City last time out, also on Wednesday.
Saturday's match will be refereed by David Webb, who has taken charge of 10 Championship games so far this season, issuing one red card and booking 41 players. He has awarded one penalty.
The last Southampton game Webb refereed was a 2-1 away win against Plymouth Argyle on August 19. He is yet to oversee a match featuring Birmingham this season.