Birmingham City v Aston Villa: The last five meetings

Richard Fletcher looks back at the previous five meetings between the two sides ahead of the big clash.

Aston Villa 4 Birmingham City 2 - 25 November 2018

This six goal thriller will go down as one of the best second city derbies of recent years as Aston Villa extended their unbeaten run against Birmingham City to seven games.

A nervous start by the host was capitalised on by Lukas Jutkiewicz's volley who handed the visitors a deserved lead.

Unfortunately for Blues, their dogged first half work was unravelled in the matter of two late first half minutes, as Jonathan Kodija and Jack Grealish netted for Villa to hand them the advantage heading into the interval.

Dean Smith's men extended their lead shortly into the second period when Tammy Abraham converted a penalty after being brought down by Michael Morrison.

Villa appeared to be in cruise control, however their nerves were enhanced once again when Kristian Pederson volleyed home from a Che Adams cross.

However the best was yet to come for the home fans, as the entertaining derby was sewn up for the hosts courtesy of a sensational winding run from full back Alan Hutton who danced around the Blues defence to prod past Lee Camp.

Aston Villa 2 Birmingham City 0 - 11 February 2018

Blues and Villa were experiencing extremely mixed fortunes in the league as the 17/18 campaign began to enter its crucial period.

The hosts found themselves narrowly outside the top two, whereas Steve Cotterill's Birmingham side were just two points clear of the drop zone ahead of this crucial second city derby.

After a cagey opening period, Albert Adomah finally put Steve Bruce's side ahead on the hour, when Jack Grealish's perfectly weighted pass was guided in by Adomah, whose strike struck David Stockdale's post before finding the net.

Villa's lead was doubled ten minutes from time when Conor Hourihane chested a half clearance and fired a spectacular half volley past Stockdale to give the hosts breathing space.

The match ended in ugly fashion when Cheikh N'Doye received a second yellow card following an altercation with Mile Jedinak and John Terry.

Birmingham City 0 Aston Villa 0 - 29 October 2017

Birmingham City and Aston Villa shared the spoils as a tense second city derby ended scoreless at St Andrews.

Spanish midfielder Jota wasted Blues' best chance early in the second half, blazing over the bar, before Sam Gallagher also shot too high.

Villa finished strongly, with John Terry's flicked header just wide.

Substitute Keinan Davis and Jonathan Kodjia were unlucky as both hit the bar in quick succession.

Steve Bruce's Villa finished the weekend still sixth in the Championship while, after gaining a derby draw from only his third game in charge, Steve Cotterill's Blues were now only two points clear of the danger zone.

Aston Villa 1 Birmingham City 0 - 23 April 2017

This late April clash in 2017 saw Harry Redknapp take charge of his first game for Birmingham City disastrous spell under former Chelsea striker Gianfranco Zola.

Hosts Aston Villa were experiencing a disappointing campaign stagnating in mid-table, however this was nothing compared to Blues who were flirting far too heavily with relegation ahead of the season's climax.

A dull first half at Villa Park only saw one clear chance, which fell to Birmingham striker Che Adams who missed narrowly with a close range volley.

The game sparked to life when Gabby Agbonlahor entered the fray on 59 minutes.

Just ten minutes later, Agbonlahor, who looked to have kicked his last ball for Aston Villa, lashed in a sharp strike from close range to send the home fans into ecstasy.

The hosts held on to further compound their neighbours worries ahead of the final few games of the season.

Birmingham City 1 Aston Villa 1 - 30 October 2016

Steve Bruce returned to St Andrews as the Aston Villa manager this time and maintained his unbeaten start at the helm as Villa claimed a point in an absorbing second city derby.

Boyhood Villa fan Gary Gardner ran the length of the field to celebrate with 1,988 away fans after superbly heading the visitors in front after 29 minutes.

A poor miss from Blues' joint-top scorer Clayton Donaldson kept Villa in the ascendency when his first-half header crashed against the crossbar from very close range.

The hosts did manage to level though in the second period when David Davis' low range right-footed strike beat Pierluigi Gollini.

Both Clayton Donaldson and Jacques Maghoma had chances for Blues to snatch the points, however it wasn't to be, as both sides had to settle for a point.