Squad sheets: Birmingham City v Liverpool

Birmingham are hard to beat home since they returned to the top flight. In the circumstances, this fixture will be informative about Roy Hodgson's chances of rebuilding Liverpool with limited means. His side has held its own to date and new signings Raul Meireles and Paul Konchesky are in the squad. Alex McLeish, for his part, has the option of giving debuts to Jean Beausejour and Martin Jiranek, although Alexander Hleb is injured. Neither manager can spend heavily and this season will test their ingenuity as well as their eye for a bargain. Kevin McCarra Venue St Andrew's, Sunday 4pm Tickets £30-50 (0844 557 1875) Last season Birmingham 1 Liverpool 1 Referee M Halsey This season's matches 1 Y 2, R 0, 2.00 cards per game Odds Birmingham 23-10 Liverpool 7-5 Draw 23-10 Birmingham Subs from Taylor, Bowyer, Míchel, Fahey, Murphy, Vallès, O'Connor, Beausejour, Jiranek, Derbyshire, O'Shea, Mutch Doubtful None Injured Hleb (leg, 18 Sep), Phillips (thigh, 18 Sep), Parnaby (hamstring, 18 Sep) Suspended None Form guide DWD Disciplinary record Y8 R0 Leading scorer Gardner 3 Liverpool Subs from Jones, Pacheco, Ngog, Agger, Lucas, Kyrgiakos, Babel, Wilson, Spaering, Shelvey, Kelly Doubtful Ngog (hamstring) Injured Aurélio (achilles, 19 Sep), Kuyt (shoulder, 2 Oct) Suspended Cole (last of three) Form guide WLD Disciplinary record Y2 R1 Leading scorers Ngog, Torres 1 Match pointers • The last six Premier League matches between these sides have been drawn – if this finishes level it will equal the record for consecutive draws between two teams • Birmingham's last nine top-flight home wins have been by a single-goal margin • Liverpool have won once in their last 10 away games and have managed eight goals in their last 13 (including four against Burnley) • Roger Johnson has scored the quickest goal of the season so far (3min 40sec) while Martin Skrtel has picked up the quickest booking (3min 31sec)