Birmingham vs Wrexham preview, tips, team news: Osayi-Samuel and Okonkwo to battle in England

Birmingham City welcome Wrexham to St Andrew’s on Sunday in a Championship fixture that carries wildly different implications for the two clubs.

The Blues are mired in a three-game losing streak that has left manager Chris Davies fighting to keep his job with just five matches remaining.

Wrexham, by contrast, arrive in the West Midlands clinging to their play-off hopes after a bruising 5-1 home defeat to Southampton last time out knocked them out of the top six.

Phil Parkinson’s side sit seventh on 64 points, two behind Southampton with five games left to salvage what would be a remarkable fourth consecutive promotion.

Adding a Nigerian flavour to Sunday’s contest is Bright Osayi-Samuel, who has been a regular in Chris Davies’ backline since his summer move from Fenerbahce.

The 28-year-old right-back is a regular Nigeria international who was named in the AFCON 2025 Team of the Quarter-Final after a standout tournament in Morocco, where the Super Eagles reached the semi-finals before losing to hosts Morocco on penalties.

Osayi-Samuel, who was born in Okija before his family moved to Spain and then to England when he was 10, settling in Woolwich in south-east London, brings a level of continental experience rare at Championship level, and his marauding runs down the right flank have been one of Birmingham’s most consistent attacking outlets this season.

He will be up against a potential Super Eagles teammate Arthur Okonkwo, who will man the sticks for Wrexham. Recall that Okonkwo just recently switched his allegiances from England to Nigeria.

For the 24-year-old shot-stopper, every single one of his games will be monitored by the Nigerian football fanbase as they look to get a sense of his quality. As such, he will be looking to put in a good shift on Sunday Afternoon.

Match Preview

Birmingham’s campaign has flatlined at the worst possible time.

After an eight-match unbeaten run between January and March briefly flirted with play-off contention, the Blues have won just once in their last seven outings.

A tepid home defeat to Blackburn on Good Friday was followed by a 2-1 loss at promotion-chasing Ipswich on Easter Monday.

Birmingham took the lead through Carlos Vicente on 32 minutes only to concede twice before half-time, as Ben Johnson and Kasey McAteer turned the game on its head.

Davies’ men sit 16th on 53 points, mathematically safe from relegation but a distant 13 points from the play-off places with little left to play for beyond professional pride.

Their home form, however, offers a crumb of comfort: nine wins from 20 at St Andrew’s, where they have collected 35 of their 53 points.

Wrexham’s situation is far more urgent. The Red Dragons’ 5-1 capitulation against Southampton on Tuesday was as damaging psychologically as it was in terms of the table.

Tonda Eckert’s Saints raced into a two-goal lead inside 22 minutes, and although Josh Windass pulled one back with a classy finish, further strikes from Cyle Larin, Ross Stewart and Finn Azaz completed a comprehensive rout in front of 10,547 at Stok Cae Ras.

That result flipped the play-off picture, with Southampton leapfrogging Wrexham into sixth on 66 points.

Parkinson’s men now trail the final play-off spot by two points with five games remaining, and this trip to St Andrew’s is the first of three away fixtures in their final five matches.

Wrexham’s away record actually reads better than their home form: they have lost just once in their last nine Championship games on the road, winning eight of 20 away fixtures this season and scoring an average of 1.3 goals per match on their travels.

The contrasting motivations are clear: Birmingham are playing out the string while Wrexham are scrapping for survival in the play-off race.

Head to Head

These two sides have met four times across the past two seasons, and Birmingham hold the edge in the overall record with two wins and two draws.

Wrexham are yet to beat Birmingham in any of those meetings.

The reverse fixture at the Racecourse Ground in October ended 1-1 in what was billed as the latest instalment of the “Hollywood Derby” between Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s Wrexham and Tom Brady’s Birmingham.

George Dobson headed the hosts in front from a corner, but Patrick Roberts equalised just 20 seconds into the second half after Jay Stansfield reacted to a poor clearance and teed up his teammate.

Neither side managed a shot on target after Roberts’ goal in what became a surprisingly flat second half.

Last season in League One, the two fixtures followed a similar pattern: a 1-1 draw at the Racecourse followed by a 3-2 Birmingham victory at St Andrew’s, where the Blues’ greater squad depth ultimately told.

That home win last season is significant context, as Birmingham have historically been the more dangerous side when hosting this fixture.

Team News

Birmingham City

Davies faces a defensive headache with both first-choice left-back options, Kai Wagner (shoulder) and Alex Cochrane (ankle), sidelined through injury.

Ethan Laird is expected to continue deputising on the left flank, though he is a natural right-back operating out of position.

Tomoki Iwata should continue at right-back, while Tommy Doyle and Seung-ho Paik anchor the midfield double pivot.

Up front, Marvin Ducksch leads Birmingham’s scoring charts with 10 Championship goals and should operate just behind Jay Stansfield, who has nine league goals of his own, in an attacking partnership that gives Davies his best chance of breaking Wrexham’s back three.

Patrick Roberts continues to be a creative influence from the right side, having scored in the reverse fixture.

Ibrahim Osman has started the last two games on the flank and looks set to retain his place.

Birmingham City Predicted XI (4-2-3-1):Beadle; Iwata, Klarer, Robinson, Laird; Paik, Doyle; Osman, Roberts, Ducksch; Stansfield

Wrexham

The fitness of top scorer Kieffer Moore is the key talking point for Parkinson ahead of the trip to Birmingham.

The Wales international returned to training before the West Brom game following a hamstring injury that had sidelined him since early March, and was thrust straight back into the starting lineup against Southampton.

Moore, who has 11 Championship goals and three assists this season, should start again if he came through the 90 minutes against Southampton without any setbacks.

Ben Sheaf remains a long-term absentee with a serious knee injury suffered during the thrilling 5-3 win over Ipswich in February, and is unlikely to feature again this season.

Matty James’ fractured toe has proved more complicated than first thought, while Liberato Cacace is also a doubt after a stop-start campaign curtailed by various knocks.

Oliver Rathbone and Zak Vyner could both come into the starting lineup after the Southampton humiliation, with Parkinson likely to shuffle his pack after conceding five goals.

Sam Smith deputised capably up front during Moore’s absence but may drop to the bench if the big Welshman is deemed fit enough to lead the line.

Wrexham Predicted XI (3-4-2-1):Okonkwo; Cleworth, Hyam, Vyner; Kabore, Dobson, Rathbone, Thomason; Windass, Broadhead; Moore.

Both teams’ leading scorers are their primary attacking focal points, and Sunday’s showdown between Ducksch and the towering Moore could define the outcome.

Moore edges the individual duel on raw output, with 11 goals and three assists in the Championship against Ducksch’s 10 goals and one assist.

The Welshman’s xG of 10.1 suggests his finishing has been broadly in line with the chances presented to him, while Ducksch has slightly outperformed his expected goals of 8.9, hinting at clinical finishing from fewer opportunities.

Moore’s fitness is the critical factor: if he starts, Wrexham become a materially different proposition.

The Managers

Chris Davies (Birmingham City)

The former Tottenham and Celtic assistant took his first senior managerial role at St Andrew’s last summer, tasked with guiding the Blues straight back to the Championship’s upper reaches after their record-breaking League One title win.

Results have been mixed throughout, but the current run of three successive defeats has placed Davies under significant pressure with five games remaining.

His tactical flexibility has been praised at times, though critics point to a lack of attacking identity when his side are without the ball.

Reports suggest Birmingham’s board are already considering their options should the losing run extend further.

Phil Parkinson (Wrexham)

The architect of Wrexham’s extraordinary rise from the National League to the Championship, Parkinson is chasing an almost unthinkable fourth consecutive promotion.

No club in the history of English football has achieved such a feat through the conventional league system, and reaching the play-offs would represent another remarkable chapter in the Wrexham fairytale.

Parkinson’s pragmatic approach, built on defensive solidity and aerial threat, has served the club brilliantly across three promotions, though the 5-1 defeat to Southampton was a painful reminder that the Championship’s quality can expose any side on a bad day.

His ability to galvanise a squad after setbacks has been one of his defining qualities, and Wrexham will need that skill more than ever on Sunday.

Tactical Preview

Davies is expected to persist with his 4-2-3-1 setup, with Paik and Doyle sitting in the double pivot to shield a back four that has looked increasingly vulnerable in recent weeks.

The key attacking threat comes from the wide positions, where the trickery of Roberts and Osman are designed to stretch opponents, while the Ducksch-Stansfield partnership through the middle gives Birmingham a dual focal point capable of hurting defences both aerially and on the deck.

Demarai Gray remains a potent weapon from the bench, and his pace could prove decisive against tiring legs in the final quarter of the game.

Birmingham’s biggest weakness this season has been their away form, but at home they tend to dominate possession and look to build patiently from the back through Christoph Klarer and Jack Robinson.

Wrexham’s 3-4-2-1 provides a natural tactical counter to Birmingham’s width.

The wing-backs, Issa Kabore on the right and George Thomason on the left, will be tasked with matching Birmingham’s wide players while also providing ammunition for Moore when they break forward.

Parkinson’s side thrive on transitions and set pieces, two areas where Birmingham have been particularly vulnerable of late.

The Blues have conceded first in five of their last seven matches, and Wrexham’s ability to take early leads through quick breaks could be pivotal.

Windass and Broadhead operating in the half-spaces behind Moore gives Wrexham a creative edge that could cause problems for Birmingham’s central midfield, particularly if Paik and Doyle are drawn out of position.

The match-up between Kabore’s pace and Laird operating at left-back, out of position, could be an area Wrexham look to exploit aggressively.

In a season of extraordinary twists for Wrexham, Sunday’s trip to Birmingham feels like a pivotal chapter.

The Red Dragons need to respond to the Southampton mauling with the kind of gritty away performance that has defined so much of their rise through the Football League pyramid.

Birmingham, for their part, need to find a result to ease the growing pressure on Davies and give their supporters something to cling to in the final weeks of a disappointing campaign.

Expect a competitive, open contest, but one where Wrexham’s greater hunger and the returning Moore ultimately prove decisive.