Birmingham City

Image source, PA Media

Birmingham boss Chris Davies claims the Blues' hard-fought 2-1 win at Norwich is one of their "biggest of the season".

The Blues played brilliantly to lead 2-0 through Carlos Vicente and Marvin Ducksch before they had to withstand a second-half fightback to record their first win at Carrow Road since 2002.

Birmingham have climbed to seventh in the Championship, just two points outside the play-offs, and Davies told BBC Radio WM: "You could say that's one of our biggest wins of the season.

"It feels big and I've just been told it's 2002 since the Blues last won here, which is incredible.

"I'm very pleased for the supporters that have travelled here and taken that home with them. I said to the players, it's game by game, step by step, but that feels like a big step today.

"Norwich are in great form, they're at home, their tails are up. I thought in the first half we were exceptional. We could have been, and should have been, out of sight because of the way we played.

"In the second half, we had to weather a bit of a storm and show the other side of football, the grit, the determination to keep the ball out of the net and we did that as well."

Norwich City are currently top of the Championship's form guide with 15 points from their past six games, level with Middlesbrough but having scored more and conceded fewer goals.

The Canaries have moved seven points clear of the relegation zone under head coach Philippe Clement, who has won 11 of his 19 games since being appointed in November.

Birmingham City will arrive in Norfolk two points short of the top six and with only one defeat from their past 10 outings.

• Norwich have lost their past two league games against Birmingham, which is more defeats than they suffered in their previous 19 games against the Blues in league competition (W12 D6).

• Birmingham won 4-1 against Norwich earlier this season (November 2025) and could do the league double over the Canaries for the first time since 2001-02.

• Norwich City have won six of their past eight league games (L2), with no Championship side winning more points than the Canaries since the turn of the year (18, level with Middlesbrough).

• Birmingham have won their past two away league games (2-0 vs both Sheffield Wednesday and Oxford United), as many wins as they recorded across their first 14 games on the road this season. They are looking to win three successive away league matches without conceding for the first time since October 2015.

• Norwich City have won their past two league games, keeping a clean sheet in both (2-0 vs Blackburn Rovers and 3-0 vs Oxford United); they last went on a longer league run without conceding in March 2021 (3 games).

Image source, EFL

Puma's Rainbow ball will return to the English Football League as part of an on-going campaign against discrimination and homophobia.

The special edition rainbow ball was introduced in 2024 to mark LGBTQ+ History Month and will be used at every EFL game from 20 February until 1 March.

Manufacturers Puma will make a donation to Football v Homophobia for every goal scored with their rainbow ball across the Championship, League One and League Two.

The donations will help support education against homophobia and promote inclusion across the season.

The EFL have released a video, external to coincide with the campaign which features a Preston North End fan who was charged with a hate crime following homophobic chanting during an FA Cup fixture against Chelsea.

The rainbow ball will also feature in EFL partner EA Sports' FC 26 video game.

"The rainbow ball is a powerful symbol of the values we uphold across the EFL all season long," EFL chief executive officer Trevor Birch said.

"It not only reflects our longstanding commitment to ensuring the League is representative of all its diverse communities, but also reminds us that we all have a role to play in creating an environment in which everyone feels they truly belong."

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies believes his side deserved to beat Premier League side Leeds United after their penalty shootout defeat in the FA Cup fourth round.

Patrick Roberts brought Blues level at 1-1 late on before Ibrahim Osman hit the post in stoppage-time.

It was the second time the hosts had struck the woodwork after Jay Stansfield's early drive was also tipped on to a post.

"I said to the players that I'm proud of them," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"It's not a term I use a lot, but I think it's something I do feel because I think we've been the better team.

"If you think of the Newcastle game last year we had a go but we died out towards the end and they blew us away a little bit, but this was completely different.

"Over the course of the game we should have won that match. We had all the big chances and unfortunately we just couldn't get the goals, but we fought to the very end and that's what pleases me most."

Davies hopes the performance will provide the platform for a Championship play-off push, with 11th-placed Birmingham just two points outside of the top six.

"We've given ourselves an example of what we're capable of today, although we didn't get the win we've definitely shown some good qualities and we have 14 league games left now," he added.

"It's all to play for still, but what I like is we've been there, we look like a team that's ready to fight and we've got quality, so we just have to keep believing and keep pushing."

Jason Mohammed is joined by Paul Robinson and Leon Osman to bring all you the action and talking points from Sunday's FA Cup ties.

Watch on BBC iPlayer here

And listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Grimsby Town 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

• Birmingham City 1-1 Leeds United

• Oxford United 0-1 Sunderland

There are five ties in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday and BBC Sport will bring you every moment.

• Birmingham v Leeds (12:00) - BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio WM & BBC Radio Leeds

• Grimsby v Wolves (13:30) - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2, BBC Radio Humberside & BBC Radio WM

• Oxford United v Sunderland - BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 3, BBC Radio Oxford & BBC Radio Newcastle

• Stoke v Fulham - BBC Radio Stoke

• Arsenal v Wigan (16:30) - BBC Radio Manchester

Kick-off times 14:00 GMT unless stated

Follow all of the action and reaction here

You can also listen to today's 5 Live commentaries on most smart speakers. Just say "ask BBC Sounds to play Birmingham v Leeds" or "ask BBC Sounds to play Oxford United v Sunderland", for instance.

Find out more about how to listen to football on BBC Sounds

Leeds United's comeback from 2-0 down to draw at Chelsea was just extraordinary, but I can smell an upset here.

I am sure Leeds boss Daniel Farke will make some changes because he will have at least half an eye on the Premier League and their next game against Aston Villa.

Birmingham City are going well under Chris Davies and are unbeaten in eight games in all competitions. This seems like a good time for him to take a top-flight scalp.

Sutton's prediction: 1-0

Read the full predictions and have your say here

Image source, Getty Images

Birmingham City have "nothing to lose" in "exactly the type of game we want" when they take on Leeds United in the fourth round of the FA Cup, says boss Chris Davies.

Blues, unbeaten in seven Championship games, will be hoping to continue their excellent form on Sunday against a Premier League side at this stage of the competition for a second season running.

Last term, as a League One club, Birmingham gave Newcastle United a huge scare before succumbing 3-2 at St Andrew's and Davies wants to see his side show the same spirit against Leeds.

"Like the Newcastle game, we need to make sure they feel the intensity of our stadium and everything we can bring," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"We've got nothing to lose. We need to go after the game. People will be expecting the Premier League team to win.

"We have to enjoy it, go after them and show what we're capable of."

Davies said he had been studying Leeds, now six points above the relegation zone in the top flight, and liked what he saw.

"They've done so well in the Premier League, they're not scraping by in games, they're right in there. I've been really impressed," he said.

"It's exactly the type of game we want. Our players are really keen to test themselves."

Davies is set to rotate his squad and give the likes of August Priske and Demarai Gray more game time.

South Korea midfielder Paik Seung-ho is out for Blues as they wait to learn more about the shoulder injury he sustained early in the goalless draw with West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday.

Davies confirmed the 28-year-old is seeing a specialist next week and will be out for "a few weeks at least".

Image source, Opta

Birmingham City will look to extend their eight-game unbeaten run in all competitions when they welcome Premier League side Leeds United to St Andrew's in the FA Cup fourth round on Sunday (kick-off 12:00 GMT).

Blues have lost just one of their 11 games since Christmas (W5 D6) and are unbeaten in 11 matches on home soil since a 3-2 defeat to Hull City in the Championship on 18 October (W6 D5).

The Whites are also in relatively strong form, with just two defeats in their past 14 games (W5 D7) and they knocked out a second tier side in Derby County with a 3-1 away win in the third round.

• Birmingham City have won three of their past four home matches against Leeds, all in the Championship and all without conceding. The other match in this run saw Leeds win 5-4 in December 2019 under Marcelo Bielsa.

• Leeds United have progressed from four of their five FA Cup ties against Birmingham, knocking them out in 1971-72, 1976-77, 1997-98 and 2012-13 – the other was a 3-0 win for the Blues in the third round in 2004-05.

• Birmingham are looking to reach the FA Cup fifth round for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign – they have been eliminated in six of their previous seven ties at this stage.

• Leeds have now reached the FA Cup fourth round in the past four seasons – as many times as they'd managed in their previous 19 seasons combined. The Whites were knocked at this stage by Millwall last season but haven't gone out in the fourth round in consecutive seasons since 1992-93 (vs Arsenal) and 1993-94 (vs Oxford).

• Since January 2000, Leeds have been drawn away from home in 37 of their 47 FA Cup ties, including 16 of their ast 19 (including this tie). Among teams to play more than 10 ties since 2000, Leeds have comfortably been drawn away in the highest percentage (79%).

Birmingham City boss Chris Davies believes his side deserved to take all three points after being held to a goalless draw by West Bromwich Albion.

"It was a battle as we knew it would be but over the course of the game you would have to say it is pretty incredible we have not won that match," Davies told BBC Radio WM.

"There were moments around their goal, one handled off the line which was a certain penalty with VAR and one goalline clearance which was incredible. There were fantastic saves, we hit the post and we had a goal disallowed.

"It is frustrating that we didn't get the three points but we certainly did enough to win it.

"I really like how we finished and I have just told the players to get their heads up because they gave everything.

"Unfortunately we couldn't quite turn it into the three points but certainly from a performance there were a lot of positives."

Birmingham City will be eyeing a potential spot in the top six as they welcome West Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion for Tuesday's headline act (20:00 GMT).

With just two points keeping them out of the play-off positions, Blues will be eager to exploit their home advantage to advance their promotion push against a Baggies side that have struggled on the road this season.

Albion themselves will feel they have a lot to play for though, with boss Eric Ramsay still seeking his first victory after his appointment in January and a goalless draw on the weekend keeping them out of the bottom three by just a single point.

• Birmingham City have won each of their last three home league games against West Bromwich Albion, only once before going on a longer winning run at home versus the Baggies in the Football League, winning six straight between April 1938 and April 1957.

• West Bromwich Albion have only won one of their last seven league matches away to fellow West Midlands sides (L6), beating Coventry City 2-0 in October 2023.

• Birmingham City have won eight of their nine midweek home games in the league under Chris Davies (Tue/Wed/Thu – D1), keeping seven clean sheets and scoring at least twice in eight of those matches.

• No team have lost more away games in England's top four tiers in the 2025-26 season than West Bromwich Albion (P16 W3 D1 L12), with the Baggies last losing more times on the road in a league campaign back in 2008-09 in the Premier League (13).

• Since the start of last season, Birmingham City have suffered fewer home defeats than any other side in England's top four tiers (1), while only Bradford City (27) have picked up more home wins than their 26.