Birmingham City v Brentford: Opposition insight with Blues correspondent Brian Dick | OneFootball

Brentford begin their Carabao Cup campaign against Championship side Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Tuesday night (8pm kick-off BST, live on Sky Sports+).

Ahead of the second-round tie, Birmingham Mail correspondent and Keep Right On podcast co-host Brian Dick discusses the Blues’ solid start to the season, Chris Davies’ potential team selection and why striker August Priske could be the player to watch.

Birmingham have played two games in 2026/27 at the time of speaking; they beat Swansea City 1-0 in the first round of the Carabao Cup, then drew 0-0 with Sheffield United on the opening weekend of the Championship season. How would you summarise their start?

Solid, I think, is the only word to describe it. At Sheffield United, they were really well organised and won a lot of physical battles.

They came into this season with the ghost of last season’s away form hanging over them; it was really bad and, worryingly, they got bullied at quite a few places.

So, they have really tried to address that over the summer by bringing in a bit of size, a bit of Championship experience, and it is looking much better so far, on the evidence of two away games. Not spectacular, but solid.

What have you made of Birmingham’s summer business?

The permanent signing of midfielder Jhon Solis – who came in on loan from Girona in January – was a no-brainer. He made a really good impression last season and is exactly the profile I just mentioned: he is big, he is strong and he can withstand the physical rigours of the Championship.

Luis Vázquez has come in from Anderlecht, and he is another big guy. As is Dael Fry who has come in from Middlesbrough. You can see the theme emerging here.

They have addressed the deficiencies they left themselves with this time last summer. There has not been a massively splashy signing and they do still need a no.10 and a left winger so, hopefully, if there is a splash to be made, it will be made in those positions.

At the moment, it all makes a decent amount of sense.

Looking at the Carabao Cup, across the last 10 seasons, Birmingham have not made it past the second round. How will Chris Davies be approaching this one?

He will be judged on the league, like every manager.

The recent record mentioned is, I think, symptomatic of the fact that, for most of those, they have been fighting to stay in the Championship, so they would often play a second string in the League Cup, which would be a low-risk fixture.

Against Swansea in the first round, he sent out what was, pretty much, a first team. I do not think that suggests a change of emphasis, more than it had a feel of a watershed between pre-season and competitive football.

So while it was a live game, it was not a do-or-die and the Sheffield United game was much more blood-and-thunder. Blues have got some tough games coming up, so I would be surprised if it was a full first team against Brentford. It might be used to rotate and rest a little bit albeit that, at the moment, they do not have enough numbers to be able to put out an entirely different XI.

Which player should Brentford keep an eye out for on Tuesday?

Striker August Priske had a great pre-season and scored four goals, before scoring in the first game against Swansea.

Priske is tall, mobile and very much the keystone around which the team is built at the moment. Blues have gone very direct in the last six months or so since he arrived and he has been key to that.

He is the great hope of the team; he not only carries the burden of scoring goals, he is almost the justification for why they are playing the way they are and almost why they signed someone like Vázquez as a potential back-up or replacement if anything happens to him.

Solis was exceptional against Sheffield United, too. That said, we could be in a world where neither play in this game!

What should Keith Andrews’ side expect in terms of shape and style?

It has been a 4-2-3-1, leaning more towards a 4-3-3, so the no.10 in the 4-2-3-1 is actually a central midfielder and can play a bit deeper when they are out of possession.

With the way they play, we are not talking 1980s Wimbledon, but they do not tend to take risks in their own defensive third anymore, so will look to get the ball forward relatively quickly.

What’s your score prediction?

I am going to go 1-0 to Birmingham, given the home advantage, as they have been very strong at St Andrew’s in the last couple of years.