EFL Championship 2019/20: Birmingham City vs Nottingham Forest – tactical analysis

Saturday’s round of EFL Championship fixtures saw fourth-placed Nottingham Forest travel to the St. Andrew’s Trillion Trophy Stadium looking to extend the gap from dropping out of the playoffs. In their way was Pep Clotet’s, 18^th-placed Birmingham City, who were five games without a defeat in all competitions.

The resulting three points for Blues in the 2-1 victory saw the home side rise to 17^th in the Championship table, whereas defeat for Sabri Lamouchi’s side saw Forest remain fourth with a four-point gap ahead of seventh.

This tactical analysis will break down the clash between the two sides, highlighting key tactics used by both outfits and using analysis to show had they had an impact on the game’s outcome.

Lineups

Following the 0-0 draw with Coventry City in the FA Cup, Blues persisted with the formation that Clotet had deployed in five of the ten games before Forest’s visit. Opting for a 4-4-2, Birmingham’s Spanish gaffer has also shown a preference to a 4-2-3-1 and on occasion, a 4-4-1-1. In terms of personnel, three changes were made from the stalemate with the Sky Blues. Ivan Sujnic, Jefferson Montero and Kerim Mrabti were switched for Gary Gardner, Jeremie Bela and Scott Hogan.

In the away side’s dugout, Sabri Lamouchi also stuck with the same formation that he deployed in his side’s previous outing. The midlands outfit opted for a 4-2-3-1 as they had done in the 1-0 victory away to Brentford. In fact, Lamouchi had only deterred from the starting formation on one occasion in the previous ten games. Choosing a 4-4-2 in the 2-0 defeat to Chelsea. Only one change was made in the starting lineup, with Samba Sow making way for Ryan Yates.