Match Report
Before the match
11 goals for and seven against accompanied Cardiff's two wins, one draw and two defeats across five outings. A 2-2 draw away to Middlesbrough (17 October) was their most recent result; their biggest win in that spell was 5-1 at home to Watford on 13 October.
Middlesbrough hosted Cardiff (Championship) on 17 October. For Cardiff, the score was 2-2: two goals scored, two allowed. 5-1 was Cardiff's result against Watford on 13 October (Championship), playing at home; Cardiff won, with five scored to one conceded. The 10 October fixture (Championship) paired Cardiff with Blackburn. Cardiff lost 1-2 away from home, netting one goal while conceding two. Playing at home against Charlton (Championship), Cardiff finished 3-1 on 19 September. Their score comprised three goals, against one from the opposition. 12 September: Cardiff lost 0-1 against Bolton away from home in Championship, scoring zero goals and allowing one.
Cardiff: 20th, 11 points, 11 matches in the calculated Championship standings at kickoff.
Birmingham: four wins and one draw over five games; 12 goals scored, three conceded, keeping three clean sheets, unbeaten. Latest: a 3-0 win at home to QPR on 17 October; their biggest win in that spell was 4-0 at home to Preston NE on 13 October.
Birmingham hosted QPR on 17 October (Championship) and won 3-0; their goals totalled three, compared with zero conceded. Preston NE travelled to face Birmingham (Championship) on 13 October. For Birmingham, the score was 4-0: four goals scored, zero allowed. 1-0 was Birmingham's result against West Brom on 10 October (Championship), playing away from home; Birmingham won, with one scored to zero conceded. The 19 September fixture (Championship) paired Birmingham with Middlesbrough. Birmingham drew 2-2 at home, netting two goals while conceding two. Playing away from home against Derby County (Championship), Birmingham finished 2-1 on 12 September. Their score comprised two goals, against one from the opposition.
20 points in 11 matches put Birmingham 5th in the pre-match results-based Championship standings.
Previous meetings in our records: a 1-0 away win for Cardiff on 10 April 2024 and a 1-0 away win for Birmingham on 13 December 2023.
After the match
Cardiff edged past Birmingham 1-0 on 24 October 2026. Yousef Salech opened the scoring in the 32nd minute for Cardiff, set up by Ollie Tanner, to make it 1-0. Our current Elo ratings make Birmingham clearly the stronger side, by 154 rating points over Cardiff, even though it was Cardiff who won this one. On current ratings our Elo-Poisson model gives Cardiff only a 25% chance in this pairing, less than one in three. Cardiff: four substitutions. five changes were recorded for Birmingham. Cardiff conceded no goals.