Summary: Birmingham City 0-1 Watford in EFL Championship

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An error by Aiwu, capitalized by Dennis, condemns the Blues, who had several chances to equalize. Tom Cleverley makes his debut on the right foot as Watfort's manager, the Hornets return to winning ways after four games and climb to 13th place. Birmingham have now gone a month without a win, they remain in 21st but Huddersfield have moved level on points with them.

Lukas Jutkiewicz is out due to injury, the fans are concerned about #10 and send him off to applause. 

The regulation time is expired. The referee grants 6 minutes of compensation. 

Shot by Tyler Roberts that Daniel Bachmann catches without problems. 

The clock is ticking at St Andrew's and Birmingham City are showing signs of running out of ideas. They attack on the basis of pure drive, while the Hornets try to counterattack. 

We are in the final stretch of the match, Birmingham City need a draw at the very least, as Huddersfield Town are currently drawing 0-0 against Rotherham with a player less. 

Good through ball from Jordan James to Miyoshi who shot wide. The Japanese had been set up for a better shot. The home side are missing chances.

Kayembe's great play with Vakoun, who, falling down, the Ivorian shot at goal, but it went wide. 

Bacuna did not give the ball away, sent it into the box, it was left for Miyoshi who shot and the Austrian goalkeeper had a great reaction. 

Bacuna took a shot from half distance, but the ball went wide. 

Ivan Sunjic stepped into the box, recovered the ball, was in front of goal, but sent his shot wide. The Blues missed a clear chance to equalize. 

Lee Buchanan saved on the line a rebound inside the box that was headed for goal. The visitors started with intensity. 

The Hornets beat Birmingham City by the minimum in a very disputed match, where the Hornets had more elaborate attacks, but without depth; on the other hand, Watford played the mistake and got it through a Dennis robbery to Emanuel Aiwu, who had the ball under control and lost it. 

The first half is over. Watford beat Birmingham 1-0 in the closing minutes with a goal by Emmanuel Dennis. John Rudy saved the Blues with a last minute save.

Emmanuel Dennis gives Hearts the lead before the end of the first half - an incredible miss from 

There are only a few minutes left before the end of the match. The match has become back and forth with no clear dominator. 

Tom Delebashiru's shot goes over the top. 

Birmingham's play ended in a Watford counterattack.

Ethan Laird's header goes over. The home side are attacking with a greater sense of danger. 

A semi-slow game at the moment, with some moments of immediacy. It is an important match for both teams who are desperate to win and it is clear that they do not want to take any risks at this moment. 

With a couple of approaches, the local team could not be effective. The visitors were encouraged to respond. 

The first few minutes were for the Blue team, who decided to take the ball, while Watford waited for a counterattack. 

The referee blew the whistle for the start of the match at St Andrew's.

Players from both teams are on the field doing warm-up exercises.

Enjoy the moment, Albert! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/VREDdxEaGh

— Watford Football Club (@WatfordFC) March 16, 2024

South Korean footballer Paik Seung recently told the club channel that the atmosphere between England and Korea is very different and he is excited about his stay. "I think England is a soccer country, where soccer is a very important thing." 

Minutes before kick-off, Birmingham give us a postcard with the shirts of Ivan Sunjic and Juninho Bacuna.

Into the midfield. 🔄 pic.twitter.com/PFKb1xzoyB

— Birmingham City FC (@BCFC) March 16, 2024

Birmingham manager Mark Venus yesterday provided several updates on the fitness situations of his players.

He confirmed the continued absences of Siriki Dembele and Keshi Anderson, the latter of whom is currently out with a knee injury.

Krystian Bielik will not be fit until after the FIFA break. Marc Roberts will need time.

On the other hand, it's not all bad and captain Dion Sanderson will be back after completing his three-match suspension.

This is the first lineup that Tom Cleverley sends out. Wesley, Lewis and Chakvetadze miss today's game. In the case of Jamal Lewis he has a minor foot problem, Cleverley has commented; James Morris will replace him.  

These are the eleven players that Mark Venus sends in search of his first victory in charge of the Blues. Roberts and Dozell are the absentees for today in the starting lineup, compared to the last match.

There is high expectation among Watford fans for the debut of 34-year-old coach Tom Cleverley. Hearts are keen not to fall by the wayside and have committed to Cleverley, who will have his first professional coaching experience at the club where he hung up his boots. 

Jay Stansfield has been called up to the England U-21 squad. On loan from Fulham, Stansfield is the Blues' top scorer this season with nine goals and has received his second call-up to his country's under-21 squad, which will next face Azerbaijan on Friday 22 and Luxembourg on Tuesday 26.

The last meeting between these two teams was on September 16, 2023. Watford took the 2-0 win over the Blues, who finished a player down that game.

Hearts have a clear dominance over this afternoon's hosts, having not lost to them since 2014, when Birmingham beat them 2-1. It will be a challenge for Mark Venus' side to overcome this poor run.

Don't miss this great match between Birmingham City and Watford on Matchday 38 of the Championship via VAVEL. Can Birmingham City catch a break? 

In a few moments we will share with you the starting line-ups for Birmingham vs Watford live on Matchday 38 of the EFL Championship, as well as the latest information. 

USA Date: Sunday, March 10

USA Time: 12:30 PM ET

USA TV channel (English): Paramount+

USA TV channel (Spanish):

USA Internet Live Updates Commentary: VAVEL

This is the kick-off time for the Birmingham vs Watford EFL Championship match, Saturday, March 16 in several countries:
Argentina: 12:00 PM
Bolivia: 11:00 AM
Brazil: 12:00 PM
Chile: 10:00 AM
Colombia: 10:00 AM
Ecuador: 10:00 AM
USA (ET): 10:00 AM
Spain: 4:00 PM
Mexico: 9:00 AM
Paraguay: 12:00 PM
Peru: 10:00 AM
Uruguay: 12:00 PM
Venezuela: 11:00 AM

Tom Cleverley, who arrives as interim to replace Valerien Ismael at Watford, will have his first experience as a manager, says his first task is to change the mentality of the team.

"When I retired it didn't feel right that I left the club in a worse position than when I arrived," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.

"Now I have the opportunity to put that right, albeit for a short time, and that motivates me enormously. 

"I'm hoping to try and change their mentality a bit, motivate them that there's still a lot to play for and maybe a couple of tactical adjustments.  

"Every coach will sit here and say they want an attacking, free-flowing style of soccer, but there are certain levels you have to get over to get to that. 

"Hopefully, we'll play in the opposition half, dominate games and get organized behind the ball."

Birmingham: Krystian Bielik is still out with a groin injury, while midfielder Alfie Chang is still sidelined for a lengthy period with a knee injury. Meanwhile, center-back Dion Sanderson is available after serving a three-match suspension.

Watford: Right back Jeremy Ngakia (knee) and winger Ken Sema (femoral biceps) are ruled out, while midfielder Giorgi Chakvetadze (ankle) is a doubt after coming off at halftime in the 2-1 loss to Coventry last Saturday.

The Hornets have only managed 5 pts in their last 10 Championship matches; just one win and that was on February 17 against Rotherham.
Watford 1-2 Coventry (March 9)
Watford 1-1 Swansea City (March 6)
Millwall 1-0 Watford (March 2)
Watford 1-2 Huddersfield (24 February)
Rotherham 0-1 Watford (17 February)

The Blues have taken just one point from their last five games. They are coming up on a month since their last win, which came at home on February 17 with a 2-1 victory over Sunderland.

Birmingham 0-1 Middlesbrough (March 12)

Milwall 1-0 Birmingham (March 9)

Hull City 1-1 Birmingham (March 5)

Birmingham 3-4 Southampton (2 March)

Ipswich 3-1 Birmingham (24 February)

In a season where they were looking for a return to the Premier League, the Hornets are in fourteenth position with 45 points. Although they are further away from the relegation zone than their opponent next Saturday, only 7 points separate them from 22nd position, the difference is very small and recent results have not been encouraging for Watford, who dismissed Frenchman Valerien Ismael after the 2-1 defeat against Coventry City at Vicarage Road.
Former Watford player Tom Cleverley will take charge of Saturday's game, aiming to lead the team where he retired as a player.
Watford have won just one of their last 12 games and their last five Championship victories have come on the road.

The Blues have not had a good season and find themselves in 21st place in the standings, just one step above the relegation zone with a point above Huddersfield Town. Birmingham City find themselves in a rut from which they will have to pull themselves out of if they do not want to go to the third professional division after 13 seasons in the second tier.
It was not a good week for the team managed at the moment by Mark Venus. In midweek they lost by the minimum difference against Michael Carrick's Middlesbrough at St Andrew's in a game where they did not have a single shot at Seny Dieng's goal.

Welcome to VAVEL.com's live coverage of Birmingham vs Watford, matchday 38 of the EFL Championship. The match will take place at the St Andrew Trillion Trophy Stadium at 10:00 hrs ET.

My name is Angel Ortega and I will be your host for this match. We will be bringing you pre-match analysis, facts, score updates and live news here on VAVEL.