There’s friendly action at Portugal’s Estadio Algarve on Saturday as Birmingham City begin their pre-season campaign against Spanish side Sevilla.
Birmingham won promotion from League One last season and they have ambitions of challenging at the top of the Championship this term. They’ve already made a big statement by snapping up Japanese forward Kyogo Furuhashi for a fee of over £8m and he should be a major asset for Chris Davies’ team over the coming months.
This will be their first pre-season game and more than two months have passed since Blues were last in action against Cambridge United in their final League One match. They’ll be very short on match fitness as a result, but Sevilla are in the same boat, with the Spanish side also kicking off their campaign this weekend in Faro.
The Andalusians endured a miserable 2024/25 season in La Liga, finishing only one place and one point above the relegation zone. There has been a sharp decline in the fortunes of the seven-time Europa League winners over the past few years, and they are about to embark on a new era under the guidance of their new boss Matias Almeyda.
How the bookies view it: Sevilla the odds-on favourites
Despite their issues, Sevilla are still the 4/5 favourites to win this game. The draw is priced at 5/2, while Birmingham are available at 29/10 to upset the side from La Liga.
Recent head-to-head: Clubs set for first meeting
Sevilla have taken on 16 different English clubs in various settings, but they’ve never previously faced Birmingham. They encountered Premier League sides twice last summer, defeating Fulham 2-1 in a friendly, but they were beaten 4-1 by Liverpool at Anfield.
Players to watch: Furuhashi to feature
Furuhashi has travelled to Portugal to join up with his new teammates and he’s likely to be involved here, either as a starter or off the bench. The 30-year-old scored 10 goals in 22 Scottish Premiership appearances for Celtic last term, but struggled for minutes after joining Rennes.
Sevilla may hold one or two of the players who were involved in the June international break back, but they could cause problems on the left flank with Swiss winger Ruben Vargas.
Predicted Lineups
Birmingham have taken a strong squad to the Algarve for this game, although Alfons Sampsted and Emil Hansson are not expected to feature.
Sevilla have concerns over a couple of returning loanees with Kelechi Iheanacho recovering from gastroenteritis, while Joan Jordan is also yet to return to full training.
Birmingham City: Allsop, Laird, Neumann, Klarer, Buchanan, Iwata, Doyle, Stansfield, Fujimoto, Furuhashi, Gray.
Sevilla: A. Fernandez, Pedrosa, Salas, Marcao, Carmona, Bueno, Sow, Agoume, Vargas, Romero, Januzaj.
Anything else catch the eye?
With Birmingham still on a high from winning promotion and with a strong squad available for this game, they stand every chance of competing against a poor Sevilla side in this friendly. You can back Birmingham or draw at 5/6 with Bet365 in the double chance market, while a 1-1 draw is priced at 13/2.
The same bookmaker has odds of 13/10 for there to be under 2.5 goals, decent odds given this match is likely to be played at a slow place in hot Portuguese weather, and also considering how favourites Sevilla struggled for goals last term.
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