Birmingham City will be hoping to build on a solid start to their 2022/23 campaign when they face Huddersfield Town this evening.

Although they weren't able to secure a 5-0 victory away at Luton Town like they were last season, a 0-0 draw is still a very solid start against a side that reached the play-off semi-final at the end of last season.

A clean sheet is the main positive they can take away from that performance, especially with Elijah Adebayo, Carlton Morris, Harry Cornick and Cauley Woodrow all getting on to the pitch for the Hatters but failing to break down John Eustace's side's defence.

 

 

Their opponents this evening didn't exactly get off to the best start to 2022/23 following their play-off final defeat at the end of last term, losing 1-0 to a strong Burnley side, though they will take comfort from the fact they probably won't face many better teams than the Clarets this season.

It did look as though they were missing the likes of Harry Toffolo and Lewis O'Brien though, so they will need others to step up to the plate now they are both gone.

Looking more at tonight's hosts though, we take a look at the starting 11 Eustace could name.

After a decent debut display, John Ruddy starts ahead of Neil Etheridge, though it remains to be seen whether the latter would come in if the former's form did drop, something that will be particularly interesting considering the Philippines international's contract situation.

The back three also remains the same, with Auston Trusty, Marc Roberts and Dion Sanderson all performing reasonably well in Bedfordshire last weekend and with that, all deserve to start once more despite the availability of George Friend.

Przemyslaw Placheta, meanwhile, is needed on the left-hand side again, though there could be a selection dilemma on the right with Jordan Graham battling Maxime Colin for a starting place.

It could be argued that Graham may be the more attacking option and with Toffolo leaving the Terriers, they could potentially afford to have a forward-thinking right wing-back. However, it would be extremely harsh on Colin if he was to be dropped.

Considering he started in a deeper position, Jordan James did an excellent job alongside Ryan Woods, with the former showing real maturity and discipline to carry out his defensive work effectively.

Jobe Bellingham is an exciting prospect but to retain stability in the middle of the park, James and Woods take their positions once more with Juninho Bacuna in an advanced role.

And the starting two have to be Troy Deeney and Scott Hogan again, even though neither enjoyed the most productive day at the office at Kenilworth Road last Saturday.

Lukas Jutkiewicz can come off the bench as an impact sub though, with his aerial presence a potential lifeline for the West Midlands outfit if things aren't going their way at St Andrew's tonight.