Norwich City v Birmingham: revival meets top-half push | OneFootball

Norwich City face Birmingham City in the Championship at Carrow Road on Saturday, 21 February 2026, with the 17th-placed hosts seeking to extend their upturn while the 11th-placed visitors look to firm up a top-half push.

Birmingham City won the reverse meeting 4-1 in November, but Norwich City arrive with momentum. The Canaries have won four of their last five league games, including a 5-0 at West Brom and a 3-0 at Oxford. Birmingham are unbeaten in five in the league, with wins over Leicester and at Oxford, plus draws against Stoke and West Brom.

Norwich's lengthy injury list includes Shane Duffy, Jeffrey Schlupp, Mirko Topić, Matej Jurasek and Jovon Makama. For the visitors, Kyogo Furuhashi, Paik Seung-ho, Lee Buchanan and Alexander William Cochrane are sidelined, trimming options at both ends of the pitch.

Birmingham's wide delivery is a clear route. They have 525 open-play crosses and 10 headed goals this season, which could test a Canaries defence that has conceded 42. The hosts tend to keep the ball, averaging 52% possession with 80.01% pass accuracy, and may look to move Birmingham around, especially as Birmingham rank 18th on away form. Jay Stansfield, with nine league goals, could lead the visitors' threat, while the Canaries will lean on collective fluency rather than aerial play, having scored only three headers.

A home win would take the Canaries to 42 points and could ease them further from the relegation picture. Victory for Birmingham would move them to 49 points and may nudge them closer to the play-off places.