Birmingham v Ipswich: Back both teams to score on opening night of the Championship season | OneFootball

EFL Championship

St Andrew's has become a fortress for Birmingham City

Both Birmingham and Ipswich start the Championship season with promotion aspirations and Betfair writer Mark O'Haire believes Friday night's St Andrew's encounter has the potential for goals.

Birmingham v IpswichFriday August 8, 20:00Live on Sky Sports

Birmingham want more after blitzing League One

Birmingham are back in the Championship following a fabulous one-season stay in the third-tier where records tumbled. The Blues tore through League One, accumulating an unprecedented 111 points to seal title honours in emphatic fashion.

The ambitious ownership group will not be content with a campaign of consolidation. The Second City club are targeting back-to-back promotions and look well-equipped to mount a serious challenge on the top-six in the Championship.

The core of the squad that obliterated League One remains and Birmingham have bolstered their ranks with the eye-catching additions of Kyogo Furuhashi, Demarai Gray, Tommy Doyle and Bright Osayi-Samuel amongst others.

Head coach Chris Davies has been pleased with his team's progress in pre-season, which culminated in a 1-0 friendly success over Nottingham Forest last weekend. The Blues boss admitted the core of the team that achieved that victory will feature from the off on Friday, with Jay Stansfield likely to lead the line after returning from injury to score the only goal.

Ipswich eyeing immediate bounce back to Premier League

Ipswich are the 3.95 favourites to clinch the Championship title come May as they bid for an immediate bounce back to the Premier League. Kieran McKenna's men have lost a couple of key pieces to last season's side, though the Tractor Boys still boast an impressively strong squad across the board, full of top second-tier performers and potential.

In McKenna, Town possess one of the brightest managers in the EFL and a young coach destined for great things in the game. Parachute payments give the Suffolk side serious spending power in their search for top spot. It's difficult to dismiss Ipswich as title jollies, though this is a tricky first assignment.

The visitors do have a few injury concerns for the opener with Conor Townsend and Jaden Philogene both withdrawn in last weekend's 3-0 success over Ligue 1 outfit Auxerre. Meanwhile, Harry Clarke was also absent, having suffered an injury earlier in the week and has been ruled out of contention for Friday's curtain-raiser. Leif Davis should be available.

Tractor Boys toil at St Andrew's

Three of the last four league meetings between Birmingham and Ipswich have ended all-square, though Town have tended to toil when travelling to St Andrew's. The Tractor Boys have tabled a solitary success across their past 19 trips to the Second City outfit (W1-D8-L10), a 1-0 victory in the 2012-13 campaign in Mick McCarthy's first game in charge.

Birmingham - the 2.6 favourites on the Betfair Exchange  - come into their opening day encounter looking to extend their outstanding home record which stretches to 25 unbeaten outings (W21-D4-L0), the club's second-longest ever home unbeaten record. The Blues beat all five of their top-six rivals at St Andrew's and conceded only 11 goals in front of their supporters last season.

Ipswich (2.96 to win) picked up only 22 points in the Premier League, their lowest-ever single season haul. Town tabled just four triumphs last term and collected a measly seven points in 2025, recording the joint-worst defence across the EPL and EFL However, the Tractor Boys proved more effective on their travels, scoring in 68% of their top-flight road trips.

Birmingham v Ipswich Tip 1: Back BTTS on Friday night

Birmingham have proven formidable opposition in League One, but Ipswich should be well-capable of causing their newly-promoted hosts problems. I'm happy to pass up the prospect of supporting either side in the Match Odds or Asian Handicap markets mind, and instead focus our attention on goals, despite the Blues' exceptional defensive efforts last term.

Town retain a wealth of exciting attack options and with Kieran McKenna favouring a front-foot approach, matches involving the Suffolk giants tend to be watchable. En route to 2023/24 promotion to the Premier League, Ipswich saw 3.24 goals per-game on average, while 68% of their away days in the top-flight paid-out for Both Teams To Score backers.

I'm keen to back a repeat of BTTS at 1.86 quotes. This wager won in three of Birmingham's four meetings with fellow top-three opponents in 2024/25 and the Blues will carry their own threat in front of a capacity St Andrew's crowd.

Birmingham v Ipswich Tip 2: Laird likely to draw trouble

Energetic Birmingham right-back Ethan Laird has been prolific in the foul markets over the past 12 months. The Blues flyer has committed an average of 1.97 fouls per-90 across all competitions last term and is handily priced at 6/5 to pick up 2+ misdemeanours here when stepping up in class, odds that hold plenty of appeal with Betfair's Safe Sub product.

Ipswich centre-half Dara O'Shea also stands-out in the Shots market where the Irish defender can be supported at 1/1 to have a single attempt at goal. A threat from set-pieces, Town's new skipper averaged a very reasonable 0.63 shots per-90 during the Tractor Boys relegation from the Premier League.

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Back Both Teams To Score @ 1.86