- 1 Lincoln City vs Birmingham City: a 4-1 home win, then the meanest defence in the division
- 2 Lincoln City: ten points on the road, five at home
- 3 Birmingham City: four clean sheets, Millar on loan, and Priske a doubt
- 4 Free Football Prediction: Lincoln City vs Birmingham City
- 5 About our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information changes
- 8 Your responsibility
- 9 Responsible gambling
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About visuals
Lincoln City vs Birmingham City: a 4-1 home win, then the meanest defence in the division 
Ten days after losing 6-0 at home to West Ham, Lincoln City beat Burnley 4-1 at the LNER Stadium. Mikkel Ladefoged scored twice, House and Jefferies got the others, and Wickens saved a penalty from Marcus Edwards.
It was Lincoln’s first home league win of the season, at the sixth attempt. Birmingham City are the next visitors, on Saturday 31 October with kick-off moved to 12:30 UK time for Sky Sports+.
Chris Davies’s side are seventh with 20 points from 12 games. They’ve conceded 12 goals, the joint-best defensive record in the Championship, and before last weekend they’d won three in a row without conceding: 1-0 at West Brom, 4-0 against Preston and 3-0 against QPR.
That run ended at Cardiff on 24 October. Yousef Salech scored the only goal after Beadle had saved his penalty in the 21st minute, and Birmingham failed to score for the first time since a goalless draw at Sheffield United on the opening day.
Lincoln are 15th on 15 points, with four wins, three draws, five defeats and a goal difference of minus seven. Chris Cohen and Tom Shaw have been joint head coaches since 29 May, when Michael Skubala left for Bristol City.
Birmingham have won the last three meetings, all in 2024-25, including 3-1 at Sincil Bank in October 2024. Both sides have kept four clean sheets in the league. The bookmakers have Lincoln at 3.30, the draw at 3.50 and Birmingham at 2.10.
Lincoln City: ten points on the road, five at home 
Lincoln’s season splits cleanly by venue. Away from home they’ve won three, drawn one and lost two, and all three wins came by 1-0, at Bolton, Preston and Bristol City.
At home they’ve won once in six, and the other five games produced two draws and three defeats. Portsmouth won 3-1 at Sincil Bank in August, Swansea won 2-1 in September, and West Ham scored six on 14 October. Thirteen of the 20 league goals Lincoln have conceded came in front of their own fans.
Mikkel Ladefoged signed from Västerås SK on a five-year contract, announced on 30 August, and he’s now on three league goals after his two against Burnley.
Sonny Bradley has a muscle injury and Tendayi Darikwa has been out with a knee problem since September, so Coubis, Elerewe, Towler and Reach are expected to line up in front of Wickens. Melia and Wheatley are also listed as unavailable.
The Burnley win left Lincoln seven points clear of the relegation places. A second straight win would be rare for this club. Lincoln have won back-to-back games at second-tier level once in the last 65 years.
The last five matches show how uneven it’s been: one win, one draw, three defeats, seven goals scored and 14 conceded. Before Burnley came the 2-2 at Millwall, the West Ham defeat and a 3-0 loss at Sheffield United.
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Birmingham City: four clean sheets, Millar on loan, and Priske a doubt 
Liam Millar has been Birmingham’s sharpest player since arriving on a season-long loan from Hull on 1 September. He has four league goals and seven goal involvements in seven games, two of the goals coming in the 3-0 win over QPR on 17 October.
Away from St Andrew’s, Birmingham have won three of six. They beat Wrexham 2-1, Derby 2-1 and West Brom 1-0, drew 0-0 at Sheffield United and lost at Norwich and Cardiff, scoring six and conceding five on the road.
August Priske scored twice against Preston, and Davies isn’t sure he’ll be ready. Paik Seung-ho is out, and Marc Leonard is listed as unavailable with an Achilles injury.
Birmingham’s results over the last five read one defeat, three wins and a draw, with ten goals scored and three conceded. Davies has kept 91% of his starting eleven the same across the last six matches, and the expected side has Klarer and Neumann together at centre-back again.
The three-game winning run before Cardiff was Birmingham’s first since August 2023. They’ve kept four clean sheets in 12 league games, the same number as Lincoln, though Lincoln have conceded eight more goals.
Stansfield is expected to lead the line if Priske misses out, with Roberts, Bird and Millar behind him. At home Birmingham are unbeaten, with two wins and four draws, but it’s the away record of three wins from six that matters on Saturday.
Probable lineup Lincoln City: Wickens; Coubis, Elerewe, Towler, Reach; Konak, McGrandles; Hackett, House, Jefferies; Ladefoged
Probable lineup Birmingham City: Beadle; Osayi-Samuel, Neumann, Klarer, Cochrane; Iwata, Solis; Roberts, Bird, Millar; Stansfield
Free Football Prediction: Lincoln City vs Birmingham City
Our prediction: Birmingham City to win (odds 2.10)
I’m with Birmingham at 2.10. Lincoln have conceded 13 goals in six home league games, while Birmingham have let in 12 in 12 all season and won their last three meetings with Lincoln.
The Burnley result was real, and Birmingham drew a blank at Cardiff a week ago with Priske now in doubt. Lincoln’s away form is better than their home form, and I’d expect them to sit deeper on Saturday than they did against a Burnley side that let in four.
The gap at the back decides it for me. Birmingham are seventh with a defence that concedes a goal a game, Lincoln’s home record is one win in six, and 2.10 is a fair price for the better side. A 1-0 or 2-1 away win is the result I expect.
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