Tom Garratt has hailed Birmingham City's centre-back partnership of Phil Neumann and Christoph Klarer as the "best in the league".
Birmingham's defensive duo were outstanding once again during the 1-0 victory over local rivals West Bromwich Albion at the weekend as the Blues chalked up their third away win of the season.
Chris Davies' men have emerged from a tough start on paper with just one defeat from their opening nine fixtures, and were unfortunate not to have earned more from their meetings against Wolves and Middlesbrough.
Their return of 10 points from five away fixtures is already half the total they accrued on their travels last season, with Birmingham's away record their Achilles heel in the previous campaign.
At the heart of their promising start is the partnership of Neumann and Klarer, with the former excelling in his second season with the club and EFL pundit Garratt believes the centre-back pairing is the strongest in the Championship.
Speaking on the Pyramid Podcast, Garratt said: "Could Birmingham finish top two? Maybe not top two, but they'll be in and around the top four or five.
"They're a good team, they're defending well. They've got the best centre-back partnership in the league.
"Klarer was really good at the weekend, he's a Rolls Royce."
While Klarer was a mainstay in the side that achieved a Football League points record in League One, Neumann joined Birmingham on a pre-contract agreement from Hannover ahead of their return to the Championship.
Neumann started Birmingham's first five fixtures of the 2025/26 season, but was unexpectedly benched for Jack Robinson before returning to the side for a 12-game spell.
The German was overlooked by Davies again for an eight-game stretch from February into April, but returned to the XI with Birmingham's play-off hopes in tatters. He finished the campaign strongly before taking his game to another level this season, and his underlying numbers back up the eye test.
Neumann ranks top for interceptions, clearances and defensive contributions in the Championship, and the 29-year-old has even chipped in at the other end with a brace in the 2-1 win over Wrexham. Birmingham's win percentage with him in the team stands at 43.75%, compared to 21.43% without him.
In a settled back five alongside James Beadle, Bright Osayi-Samuel and Alex Cochrane, Neumann and Klarer have flourished.
Callum Fowler agreed with Garratt's sentiments, adding: "Birmingham are good, I've been saying this for a while.
"If they can be more clinical then they will be right up there."
