What promises to be another entertaining and enthralling Championship season kicks off on Friday night, with two of the title favourites in action as Birmingham host Ipswich at St Andrew's.
Two divisions separated these teams last term, with City topping the League One table in runaway fashion, while Town finished second from bottom in the Premier League.
Home advantage is so often a crucial factor at the start of a new season and the Blues do have a ton of momentum going into the contest, so 11/8 for them to prevail is our first Birmingham vs Ipswich prediction.
Betting Odds
Birmingham v Ipswich Town Betting Odds
Result | Odds | Chance |
|---|---|---|
Birmingham | 11/8 | 42.1% |
Ipswich | 7/4 | 36.4% |
Draw | 11/5 | 31.3% |
Birmingham are the 11/8 favourites with BOYLE Sports heading into the 2025/26 EFL Championship opener. Ipswich find themselves as underdogs at 7/4 while the draw is 11/5.
There’s more reason than ever before for you to bet on the EFL Championship at BOYLE Sports with our 2+ Goals Ahead Early Payout. If the team you back in the match betting market goes 2 goals ahead at any point, you will get paid out whether they go on to win, lose, or draw.
Who Will Win Birmingham v Ipswich?
How To Watch
How to watch Birmingham vs Ipswich
The Championship curtain raiser is live on Sky Sports and kicks off at 8pm BST.
Form Guide
Birmingham vs Ipswich form guide
City were unbeaten at this venue in League One last season, posting 19 wins and four draws, with 47 goals scored and just 11 conceded.
They finished that campaign a whopping 19 points clear of Wrexham at the summit and their ambitious American owners, including NFL legend Tom Brady, have no intention of settling for second-tier consolidation this term.
St Andrew's has been spruced up and there are plans for a new 62,000-seater stadium in the pipeline, so it was no surprise to see the Blues bring in fresh recruits over the summer.
Former Leicester winger Demarai Gray and ex-Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi have been added to a front line that already included £15m striker Jay Stansfield, who netted 23 times last season.
Loan deals for England Under-21 goalkeeper James Beadle and Wolves midfielder Tommy Doyle look shrewd business, while Marvin Ducksch, Kanya Fujimoto and Bright Osayi-Samuel are other interesting acquisitions.
Beating Nottingham Forest 1-0 in a pre-season friendly was a nice boost and St Andrew's will be jumping under the floodlights.
Looking at the Birmingham vs Ipswich odds, 4/1 for a home win and both teams to score takes the eye.
Ipswich have predictably suffered some key departures since being relegated from the top flight, with star striker Liam Delap joining Chelsea and defenders Axel Tuanzebe and Cameron Burgess also moving on.
Dutch midfielder Azor Matusiwa looks a decent recruit, Ashley Young will add experience and there are still more positive moves expected, while keeping hold of highly-regarded young manager Kieran McKenna was a big bonus.
Town are favourites to go straight back up but do head into this game with a few early injury concerns.
Head-to-Head Record
Birmingham vs Ipswich head-to-head record
These teams produced a couple of entertaining encounters when finishing at either end of the Championship table two seasons ago.
Ipswich grabbed a couple of late goals to prevail 3-1 at Portman Road after earlier coming from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 at St Andrew's via a Marcus Harness double in the closing quarter of an hour.
Stansfield opened the scoring for Birmingham after just 13 minutes on that occasion during an initial loan spell with the club.
The 22-year-old was a regular for England in this summer's European Under-21 Championship triumph and is 5/1 to hit the ground running for 2025-26 by breaking the deadlock in this match.
First Goalscorer Tip
Who Will Score 1st In Birmingham v Ipswich
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