Birmingham vs Sheffield United Prediction: Blues can profit against chaotic Blades

Birmingham City welcome Sheffield United to St. Andrew's on Wednesday (20:00 BST, Sky Sports Football) for the first round of the Carabao Cup. Birmingham head into this off the back of a home draw against Ipswich Town in the Championship, in what was an impressive performance from the Blues.

The visitors had a poor opening game, losing 4-1 at home to Bristol City on Saturday. Below you will find my Birmingham vs Sheffield United predictions, accompanied by the latest team news and match odds.

Team News

Birmingham winger Keshi Anderson was taken off with a strain against Ipswich and he will need to be assessed ahead of Wednesday. He'd likely start if available, with Willum Willumsson likely coming in for Demarai Gray on the right flank.

Marc Leonard and Taylor Gardner-Hickman could line up in midfield in place of Tomoki Iwata and Paik Seung-ho. James Beadle is likely to make his competitive debut between the sticks, coming in for Ryan Allsop.

Football Odds

Ethan Laird, Krystian Bielik and Eiran Cashin may come in for Bright Osayi-Samuel, Phil Neumann and Christoph Klarer respectively.

Lyndon Dykes is likely to get a run out in attack and will likely be joined by one of Jay Stansfield or Kyogo Furuhashi, with the pair combining well in the Championship opener.

Manager Chris Davies said Kyogo wasn't originally supposed to start against Ipswich but because Tommy Doyle had a virus during the week, the Japanese forward got the nod.

As a result, Doyle is set to feature on Wednesday against his former club.

Blades boss Ruben Selles could make wholesale changes on Wednesday after his side were dismantled at Bramall Lane at the weekend.

Djibril Soumare could be in line to make his debut for the club but midfield trio Oliver Arblaster, Tom Davies and Jamie Shackleton are still missing due to injury.

Forward Tyrese Campbell, who scored at the weekend, could be given a rest, and Tom Cannon looks the most likely candidate to come in and lead the line.

Birmingham vs Sheffield United Odds

Birmingham have gone 26 games unbeaten on home soil and they have won nine of their last 10 fixtures here in all competitions. They are 5/4, which has an implied probability of 44.4%, to win this tie in regulation time.

The Blues were held to a draw on Friday and it's 23/10 for another stalemate at St. Andrew's.

Sheffield United are the same price to come away with the victory inside 90 minutes, and they have won two of their previous three away trips in all competitions.

Birmingham forward Stansfield opened his account for the season on Friday and he has been the club's top scorer in the past two seasons. He is the 7/4 favourite to strike anytime in this cup tie.

Birmingham to win (in 90 mins) @ 5/4

Birmingham announced themselves on their return to the Championship on Friday against league favourites Ipswich. The Blues delivered a strong performance and dominated the game, limiting the Tractor Boys to just one shot on target - George Hirst's equalising penalty.

It was a dubious penalty for handball but there were so many positives for Davies and his players to take. Wednesday serves up another interesting challenge against a team hoping to be in the promotion mix this season.

If he decides to rotate, Davies will have the chance to see how strong his reserve side can be against the Blades, who will probably make changes of their own. The visitors were left shell-shocked against Bristol City so the last thing they need is a trip to a team who won League 1 with a record 111 points last season, who are 26 games unbeaten at home.

Based on what we have seen from the two teams in the opening weekend, I think this could be a relatively comfortable victory for the hosts.

Kyogo Furuhashi anytime goalscorer @ 9/5

As a Blues fan, I still find myself in awe that Kyogo plays for my club. I was amazed by him at Celtic as he delivered domestically and in Europe. His debut against Ipswich was a sign of things to come.

There were doubters saying his signing was a risk but I know what he is capable of. His movement is brilliant and he has shown he can hold his own against big defenders.

The 30-year-old was unfortunate not to have a debut goal. The lob in the opening 10 minutes was sublime, and his effort that hit the woodwork teed up Stansfield for the opener early in the second half.

I think he will get a run out on Wednesday, whether it's from the off or he enters the game from the bench. Regardless, I think he can have a huge impact given how frail Sheffield United looked at the back last time out.

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