Wolves look to bounce back from their first defeat of the season when they make the short journey across the West Midlands to face Birmingham City at St Andrew’s on Sunday lunchtime.
Roll call
Following victory over Preston North End, Cesar Peixoto named an unchanged team for the Old Gold’s last two Championship, but following defeat to West Ham United in midweek, the head coach might look at making changes for the visit to Birmingham. Santi Bueno and Ladislav Krejci were fit again and on the bench for the clash with West Ham on Tuesday night so could stake a claim for a first start of the season, while Adam Armstrong is pushing for a start after being the first name to come off the bench in recent weeks and Jordan James is also aiming to be in the starting 11 against the side which he spent the first 12 years of his career with. Kieran Trippier, Rafiki Said and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde remain on the sidelines.
Chris Davies also has a settled Blues squad, naming an unchanged back four ahead of goalkeeper James Beadle for every Championship game so far this season, while Jhon Solis and Tomoki Iwata have been mainstays in midfield and are all expected to keep their places this weekend. Areas which could see changes for the Blues are out wide, where Patrick Roberts, Carlos Vicente, Demarai Gray and Liam Millar will be looking for a place in the team alongside Jay Stansfield and August Priske. Davies will be without Lee Buchanan, Marc Leonard and Max Bird due to injury.
The form guide
Wolves’ unbeaten start to the 2026/27 season came to an end last time out after the Old Gold fell to a 4-2 defeat on the road to West Ham. Before that match, Peixoto’s side had taken seven points from their first three league games in the Championship with wins over Preston North End and Stoke City as well as progressing to the Carabao Cup third round. Wolves have also not been shy in front of goal this season, netting 16 times in their opening six matches, including two in the loss on Tuesday night.
Sunday’s hosts have also lost just once so far this year, with their defeat coming against Premier League Brentford in the Carabao Cup second round. In the Championship, however, the Blues have picked up six points from their four outings so far, after claiming all three points against Wrexham, while securing draws with Sheffield United, Bristol City and Southampton. Davies’ side are still looking for their first home win of the campaign, with their two victories so far coming away from St Andrew’s.
Heading across the midlands on Sunday.
— Wolves (@Wolves) September 3, 2026
🔵🐺 pic.twitter.com/lbfcFMcn3r
The past with Birmingham
There hasn’t been a derby between Wolves and Birmingham City since the last time the Old Gold were in the Championship back in 2017/18. The sides went head-to-head at St Andrew’s the season in December, where a 1-0 win for the visitors – which came through a Leo Bonatini strike – extended their lead at the top of the table to four points. Blues keeper David Stockdale produced several stops on the night to keep Wolves at bay, but the sending off of Harlee Dean – who was also dismissed in Wolves’ win over Blues at Molineux later that season – aided the three points for Nuno Espirito Santo’s men.
Wolves | Ruddy, Doherty, Bennett, Coady, Boly, Douglas, Saiss (Enobakhare 80), N’Diaye, Cavaleiro (Costa 61), Bonatini (Price 75), Jota.
After the match, Nuno said: “Birmingham took more risks second half, but we deserved to win and we deserved a clean sheet. As long as football is played under the law, I'm not worried. There were some hard challenges on Jota. I'm not against being aggressive, as long as you are fair. We are still looking just one game ahead. The next game against Sunderland is all I'm looking at. We don't think about anything else.”
