Birmingham City vs Ipswich Town Prediction: Birmingham still searching a win under Rooney

Birmingham City will welcome Ipswich Town at St. Andrew's Stadium in Game Week 15 of the English Championship. The home side are still waiting for their first win under Rooney. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Rooney's Birmingham City team suffered defeats in their first two matches against Middlesbrough and Hull City. They were unable to score any goals in those matches. Therefore, it was not an ideal situation for them to face Southampton at St Mary's Stadium last weekend. As expected, Southampton took advantage of Birmingham's weak defense under Rooney's management. Goals from Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Carlos Alcaraz gave Southampton a strong lead within 22 minutes. Birmingham showed improvement in the second half, with Jay Stansfield scoring a goal, but Adam Armstrong's late strike sealed a loss for them. The team has dropped from the sixth position to the fourteenth position in the Championship standings after three consecutive defeats since the surprise sacking of manager Eustace. Cardiff City, currently in sixth place, has a five-point advantage over Birmingham. It would be wise for Birmingham to continue playing a style that suits their current squad until the January transfer window. This means that Rooney and his coaching staff should focus on getting the best performances out of winger Siriki Dembele and playmaker Koji Miyoshi, who were both brought in from Peterborough United.

Ruddy; Laird, Sanderson, Aiwu, Longelo; Bielik, Sunjic, Bacuna; Miyoshi, Dembele, Stansfield

Ipswich's impressive unbeaten streak in the 2023-24 season came to an end on Wednesday when Fulham defeated them at Portman Road to secure their place in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup. Manager Kieran McKenna made significant changes to the lineup compared to their victory against Plymouth Argyle in the Championship. The Premier League quality of Fulham was evident as Harry Wilson, Rodrigo Muniz, and Tom Cairney all scored for the visitors. Despite pre-season expectations of success, no one could have predicted Ipswich's outstanding start to the campaign, with the team currently in second place in the Championship standings, collecting 34 points from their first 13 matches. Nathan Broadhead, a former Wigan Athletic loanee, has been particularly impressive, scoring six goals in 11 appearances.

Hladky; Williams, Woolfenden, Edmundson, Davis; Luongo, Morsy; Hutchinson, Chaplin, Broadhead; Hirst

Birmingham will gain a small amount of confidence from their strong performance in the second half against Southampton. However, it is unlikely that Rooney will achieve his first victory as Blues manager when facing promotion-seeking Ipswich. McKenna's team will be highly motivated at St Andrew's, as their important players were rested during the week. We anticipate that the Tractor Boys will intensify the pressure on the new Birmingham boss this weekend.