Goal and Highlights: Birmingham 1-0 Nottingham Forest in Friendly Match

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Chris Wood with a great chance. Ball falls to him on the left of the area, he sets himself and goes to sidefoot it but the actual effort is tame and is easily gathered.

First chance he's had this afternoon.

As always when lots of changes are made, it disrupts the flow of the game - not that Forest had a great deal of that anyway, although they had improved in the second half.

Forest clearly still need greater strength in depth

A very even match where both teams go on the attack and seek to open the scoreboard, however, they are being ineffective at finishing the plays despite their approaches to the rival goals.

1-0 in the last 10 minutes.

The pace of the game has dropped, as has the intensity with which Nottingham started the game. The ball is now being handled by Birmingham and Forest are unable to finish their attacking moves against a visiting team looking to improve their game for the season.

Shot saved in a very important opportunity in the game. Morgan Gibbs-White looked to open the scoring in Nottingham's favor, but had no great fortune in doing so. The French try to get the first goal of the match, without success.

The game has been quite cut between both teams, the circulation of the game has been null and void and the goal options do not appear in any of the two teams, so for the moment the emotions do not reach the stadium.

Important changes at Nottingham Forest. The visiting team reshuffles and freshens up their lines on the pitch:

IN: Jota, Yates, Moreira, Awoniyi, Richards, Abbott, Carmo and Boly.

OUT: Morato, Murillo, Cho, Anderson, MGW, Ndoye, Jair, Milenkovic.

Anderson on corner duty this time - a few minutes after Jair had failed to beat the first man with one from the same side.

Anderson's ball reaches the far post and Milenkovic is in amongst it. Too many bodies there, though, and the defender can't quite direct his header.

Better from Forest. Not placing too much emphasis on results or performances in pre-season but would be nice to see a bit more attacking threat.

Birmingham are obviously at a very different stage of their preparations as their season starts earlier. Forest still have two more friendlies after this one

Up and running with the second half at a sunny St Andrew's.

One change for the Reds as Wood is on for Jesus. Nuno giving most players a bit longer today rather than his previous tactic of swapping the entire team at half-time.

Yates has just offered a few words of advice to Ndoye before kick-off

Ibrahim Sangaré tries a through ball, but Igor Jesus is caught offside in a promising attack by Nottingham Forest, who are looking to get an equalizer in the final minutes of the first half.

Birmingham ahead.

Been a few testing moments for Forest defensively. Murillo has just had to intervene to send the ball back to Sels to stop one attack.

Four centre-backs isn't ideal. Shows lack of full-back depth. Moreira and Williams on the bench but no Aina today.

A very even match where both teams go on the attack and seek to open the scoreboard, however, they are being ineffective at finishing the plays despite their approaches to the rival goals.

Birmingham 0-0 Nottingham.

Morgan Gibbs-White's deflected shot in a new approach from Nottingham Forest, who looked to open the scoring in favor of the Reds with a right-footed shot from the right side of the box.

No score yet in this match.

Free-kick to Blues on the right. They pack the box but the ball goes straight to Sels. Well held by the Reds keeper.

Birmingham already posing a test for Forest. They are moving the ball about well and look sharp.

Nuno's men not really found a rhythm yet

The pace of the game has dropped, just as the intensity with which Nottingham started has dropped. Now the ball is being handled by the Blues and Forest are unable to finish their attacking moves against a visiting team that is looking to improve its game for the season.

The game has been quite cut between both teams, the circulation of the game has been null and void and the goal options do not appear in any of the two teams, so for the moment the emotions do not reach the stadium.

Milenkovic has to be alert to thwart a Blues attack. Was a sharp move by the hosts and they nearly caught Forest out. The big Serb was there, though.

Hopefully we see a goal today (at the right end of course). Not that you can read much into pre-season but nobody wants another 0-0 draw!

Conceded by Dan Ndoye for Nottingham Forest. It will be a corner kick in favor of Birmingham City.
There is still no clear dominator in the match. They are even so far on the pitch.

Both teams are so defensive.

A very even match where both teams go on the attack and seek to open the scoreboard, however, they are being ineffective at finishing the plays despite their approaches to the rival goals.

Birmingham 0-0 Nottingham.

Demarai Gray's good shot from half distance, when with his right foot he dares to shoot powerfully, passing the ball over the goal defended by the Forest goalkeeper. Birmingham tried in the first minutes.

Matz Sels, Morato, Murillo, Ibrahim Sangaré, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Anderson, Morgan Gibbs-White (captain), Dan Ndoye, Jesus, Matheus Cunha, Nikola Milenkovic.

Substitutes: Miguel, Bott, Neco Williams, Taiwo Awoniyi, Chris Wood, da Silva Moreira, Jota, Ryan Yates, Omar Richards, Willy Boly, David Carmo, Abbott.

Ryan Allsop, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Christoph Klarer (captain), Phil Neumann, Alex Cochrane, Tomoki Iwata, Paik Seung-Ho, Tommy Doyle, Keshi Anderson, Demarai Gray. Jay Stansfield.

Substitutes: James Beadle, Ethan Laird, Eiran Cashin, Krystian Bielik, Kyogo Furuhashi, Marc Leonard, Lyndon Dykes, Willum Willumsson, Taylor Gardner-Hickman, Alfons Sampsted, George Hall.

In short, Birmingham City come into this friendly as the clear favorites, thanks to their impressive recent form and the solid performance of their squad under Chris Davies. Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest urgently need to find their game if they are to spring a surprise in this fixture. With the information and stats at hand, the most logical bet is a Birmingham City win, a tip that aligns with current trends and analysis of both teams.

Birmingham City:

3:1 Victory over Sevilla FC
2:0 Victory over an unspecified team
1:0 Victory over an unspecified team
2:1 Victory over an unspecified team
4:0 Victory over an unspecified team

Nottingham Forest:

0:0 Draw against GD Estoril
1:2 Defeat against an unspecified team
1:1 Draw against an unspecified team
0:3 Defeat against an unspecified team
2:1 Victory over an unspecified team

In the last five meetings between Birmingham City and Nottingham Forest, the results have been mixed:

1 win for Birmingham City
2 draws
2 wins for Nottingham Forest
This record suggests that both teams have competed evenly in the past, although Birmingham City have started to show a stronger trend recently.

In the last head-to-head meeting between the two teams, Nottingham Forest managed a 2-0 home win. This result shows that, although Birmingham City have improved, Nottingham Forest still have a positive recent record in this type of fixture.

The AI-generated prediction suggests that Birmingham City have a remarkably high probability of winning this clash. Based on recent data and statistics, the AI believes that Birmingham's performance, along with their recent wins, give them a clear advantage over Nottingham Forest. Therefore, the AI betting tipster suggests betting on Birmingham City to win.

The occasion will celebrate his life, from teenage phenomenon to two-time European Cup winner and international superstar, remembering the contribution he made to both teams during a magnificent career in football.

Francis, who held Blues’ youngest player and youngest goalscorer records for nearly 50 years, became English football’s first £1million-player when he moved swapped B9 for reigning English champions Nottingham Forest in 1979.

And Francis made an immediate impact at his new club, scoring the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final as Forest beat Malmo 1-0 in Munich.

Ahead of kick-off, we will also proudly unveil our highly anticipated statue of Trevor Francis, which will be located in front of The Kop - a lasting tribute to a true Club legend.

The match will commemorate the memory of the late Trevor Francis, who represented both clubs during his illustrious career.

Francis made British soccer history when he became the first player to earn £1 million after transferring from St. Andrew's to the City Ground in 1979.

Meanwhile, the Blues have won three of their five pre-season friendlies to date ahead of their first Championship game of the season against Ipswich Town at St. Andrew's next Friday. Ryan Allsop starts in goal, while Phil Neumann is fit enough to return and partner Christoph Klarer at the heart of defence, with Alex Cochrane and Bright Osayi-Samuel also featuring.

Nuno Espírito Santo's team returned this week from a warm-weather training camp in Portugal, where Forest played two matches against Fulham and Estoril Praia.

The Reds have now drawn three times in four pre-season matches, with two games against ACF Fiorentina and Al Qadsiah at the City Ground awaiting them next week.

Welcome to the live coverage of the A vs B match, corresponding to the 2025-26 preseason friendly match. We start with the previous hour of our written broadcast.

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