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Stick or Twist? How should Birmingham approach Sunday’s crucial encounter?

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There are still a lot of unknowns surrounding our clash with Wolves on Sunday. In particular, what state of mind will our opponents be in? If either Fulham or Cardiff lose tomorrow, they are promoted to the Premier League. If that were to happen then it could be a good sign for us with our rivals taking their eye off the ball.

Garry Monk doesn’t have the luxury of second guessing our opponents though. He has to expect the full brunt of what is the Championship’s most lethal attack. They average 1.8 goals per game this season, and they will cause us major problems.

So, should the manager stick or twist?. He has been very positive with how he has set up his teams so far. The utilisation of 4-4-2 has been rewarded with a number of good results, and it looks as though Sam Gallagher will be fit enough to partner Lukas up front.

However, playing four in midfield against Nuno Espirito Santo’s side could really leave us exposed. The tenacity of David Davis and Maikel Kieftenbeld could go a long way to compensating for this, but I have major concerns with how this will match up against the 3-4-3 that is employed by this weekend’s opposition.

Saying that though, utilising a 4-5-1 formation could also be a hiding to nothing at Molineux. Three at the back is perfectly suited to counteracting 4-3-3 and variations of that, and we could be pushed further and further back, without having any out ball up front.

Wolves’ backline isn’t necessarily the strongest in the division, despite them having the second best defensive record in the league. Their domination over opponents mean they have to defend less than other teams, so Monk is going to have to come up with a solution so we can be a major threat in the final third.

You never know, he may throw in a tactical surprise and go 3-5-2 on Sunday, but with our major creative outlets coming from Jota and Maghoma out wide, that system would not necessarily suit them. My feeling is he will stick with 4-4-2, and try and cause our rivals as many problems as possible.

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