How Liam Millar could translate hot start with Birmingham City to the CanMNT in November window
Could the November window be shaping up to be a big one for Liam Millar?
Heading into the CanMNT’s Nations League quarter-final matches against Guatemala later this month, the winger, currently on loan to Championship side Birmingham City from Hull City, has found good form lately.
So far this season, he’s scored four goals and added three assists in his first 10 appearances for his new club, helping them mount an early push for promotion to the Premier League. As of writing, they’re up to second in the table, having won seven and drawn five of their first 14 games of the season, which is not bad at all.
Of course, as many will know, the Championship season is far from over, so Birmingham still have plenty of work to do. With 34 games still to play in their season, they’ve hardly hit their stride - there’s a reason why many call the Championship one of the most gruelling leagues in the world, with teams playing an astonishing 48 games, all against difficult opponents.
Someone who knows what that grind looks like, though? Millar, who is now in his fourth season in the Championship, after spending the 2023-2024 campaign with Preston North End, and the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 campaigns with Hull City. Now with 89 appearances in the division, he’s become a Championship veteran of sorts, even if he’s still only 27.
What that shows, though, is why Birmingham pounced on the opportunity to bring him in, a decision that has so far paid off for both parties.
Is Liam Clause real? 🎅 "Nope," confirms Birmingham City FC manager Chris Davies: CanMNT 🇨🇦 winger Liam Millar will be on loan from Hull City for the whole season 😎 https://t.co/ReDaVFopLr
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 29, 2026
Despite having helped Hull earn an unlikely promotion to the Premier League last season, which they only did through the playoffs after finishing sixth in the Championship table, Millar was shockingly sent out on loan even after a good start to this 2026-2027 campaign.
In just three appearances for Hull this season, he scored a goal and earned an assist, with his goal being a big one - not only was it his first Premier League goal, but it also helped Hull secure a massive 1-0 win over Coventry City FC.
Liam Millar strikes on the counter 🇨🇦 His goal secured all three points for Hull City vs Coventry ✅ Watch Every Premier League Game | Live on DAZN in Canada via FUBO Sports Network ⚽🏴 #PremierLeague | #CANMNT | @DAZNFootball | @CANMNT_Official https://t.co/0TorKncxZm
— DAZN Canada (@DAZN_CA) August 29, 2026
For context, Hull hasn’t actually won a game across all competitions since that match, which came on August 25th, as they’ve drawn five and lost two of their matches in the Premier League, and were eliminated by Sunderland in the EFL Cup.
When looking at that, you can wonder if they could’ve used someone like Millar in their ranks, as he could’ve perhaps provided some more match-winning moments in those games that they drew.
"I'm a Premier League footballer – I believe that's where I belong" CanMNT 🇨🇦 winger Liam Millar weighs in on captaining Hull City & starting the Premier League season strongly, only to be loaned out to Birmingham City 🎙️ https://t.co/YXWcWHRmh4
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 22, 2026
Yet, that shows why their decision to send him out on loan was so surprising to see. Even if Hull might’ve felt that Millar wasn’t going to play as big a role for them after their promotion as he did last year, where he played over 2000 minutes across the regular season and playoffs, there was still a world where he could be an impact substitute and rotation player for them.
He showed that with his early-season play, including that goal against Coventry, but instead, they chose to offload him for some newer faces, even despite him seemingly being willing to stay in that role.
While that’s part of business for clubs in leagues like the Premier League, as they’ve got to be extremely ruthless to ensure survival in the most competitive of the top five leagues, there’s a line to draw between ruthless and heartless.
Unfortunately, Millar got caught up in that, and he didn’t keep how he felt about that a secret - he made it clear that he felt that he had worked hard enough to earn an opportunity to play in the Premier League, even if it was in a lesser role, instead of being shipped out.
In the end, though, Hull’s loss has proven to be Birmingham’s gain, with Millar’s performances being proof of that.
To that point, though, credit has to be given to Millar for his response - it takes all sorts of mental fortitude for a player to stomach disappointment and channel it into positive performance the way he has, with his response to the situation showing how much he’s grown as a player over the years.
Yet, that’s been the story of his career, in a way.
When he was coming through the academy at Liverpool, he had to try and break through at a time when the team was going through a special phase, one where they were regularly competing for Premier League and Champions League titles. While that wasn’t a bad thing, as he got to have a close-up look at Liverpool’s Jürgen Klopp era, and players such as Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, it just meant that it was always going to be hard for him to carve out a role there long-term.
Because of that, he had to carve out a career by heading out on loan, which he did multiple times, heading to Scottish side Kilmarnock on two separate occasions, before spending a half season with EFL League One side Charlton FC.
Then, when it was clear that an opportunity wasn’t going to come with Liverpool, he joined Swiss side FC Basel, making a transformative move, one that many wouldn’t have made at the time, heading to a new country to develop as a player.
After that experience, in which he scored 13 goals and added 10 assists across 98 appearances in all competitions for Basel, he returned to England, first on loan to Preston, and then in a permanent move to Hull, as he looked to prove himself in the country he had left a few years earlier in order to develop.
Armed with a dream of becoming a Premier League player, he was eventually able to achieve that, despite dealing with a long-term knee injury near the beginning of his Hull stint, proving that his years of hard work had paid off.
Therefore, it’s almost unsurprising to see that he’s been undeterred by the roadblock he faced shortly after achieving that Premier League dream, as he’s instead shifted his focus towards helping Birmingham return to the Premier League, using what he learned from Hull’s promotion campaign last season.
To that point, though, that returns to why Millar is one to watch for the CanMNT in this window. Heading into this camp, he’s arguably Canada’s most in-form attacker, especially with Cyle Larin’s absence from this camp due to an injury. 
For a Canadian team that has struggled to score goals, with striker Jonathan David the only one seemingly able to find the net on a semi-regular basis for Canada (and even he hasn’t been as productive as he can be as of late for Canada), it’s hoped that anyone can step up and provide an offensive spark for this Canadian team.
Right now, head coach Jesse Marsch is looking for anyone able to fill that role, whether that’s Jacob Shaffelburg, who scored two goals in Canada’s most recent camp, Tajon Buchanan, who can be an impactful attacker on his day, Tani Oluwaseyi, who has continued to generate chances for Canada (even if finishing them has proven to be a challenge), or anyone else.
That includes Millar, who has unfortunately had a mixed record for Canada in terms of attacking production - in 47 caps with his country, he’s found the net just once, coming in a 4-2 win over Cuba at the 2023 Gold Cup, and only has three assists (with one of those coming in 2021 and the other in 2018).
It’s not been for a lack of trying, as Millar has put in some great performances for Canada, especially as of late, but he’s not been able to turn that into final product.
GOAL 🇨🇦 It's another hot start for the CanMNT, as Jacob Shaffelburg slots home after a nice Daniel Jebbison flick to make it 1-0 🔴Watch #CanMNT on OneSoccer https://t.co/r5Lxmb9VKq
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 3, 2026
Heck, just in Canada’s last window, he played a big role in setting up both of Shaffelburg’s goals, which came in a 2-0 win over Peru, even if he wasn’t credited with an assist on either goal (he played the cross on the first one that was deflected to Shaffelburg’s feet by Daniel Jebbison, and he also played the cross on the second goal that was deflected to Shaffelburg’s head by a Peru defender).
GOAL 🇨🇦 Make it 2 for Jacob Shaffelburg, who finishes home at the back post once again to put the CanMNT up 2-0 vs. Peru 🔴Watch #CanMNT on OneSoccer https://t.co/JmysKYJ1OL
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) October 3, 2026
Because of that, it feels like he could be due for a bit of a breakout performance this window, especially given his form at the club level.
For context, with Birmingham this season, he’s generated almost double the expected assists as he was last year for Hull (0.35 per 90 to 0.19), and more xG, too (0.23 to 0.17), while also generating more key passes (1.9 to 1.19). He is generating fewer shots (sitting with 1.65 this season, compared to 2.0), although his elevated xG totals show that he is taking better shot attempts and making overall better attacking decisions, as seen by his chance creation numbers. 
Here's Millar's statistics with Birmingham City (as of Nov 1st), showing how he's performed so far with his new club (WyScout)
That’s key, because Millar’s always been a solid dribbler and ball progresser, but the end product in his game has always varied. He’s had stretches where he’s put it together, such as when he had 10 goals for Basel across all competitions in 2021/2022, and one can’t forget that he’s generated five assists in two of his last three Championship seasons (and that could’ve probably been three out of three seasons if not for that aforementioned knee injury), but there’s been a feeling that he could be even more dangerous in the attack than he’s been. 
And here's how Millar performed with Hull last season, to compare (WyScout)
Right now, he seems to have unlocked that next level, so Marsch will hope that he can now translate that into a Canadian shirt. With their attacking struggles and their ongoing injury crisis, there’d be no better time for Millar to step up with some goals and assists - especially given that Canada will be once again without winger Ali Ahmed this window as he recovers from a long-term knee injury sustained after the World Cup.
With Ahmed’s injury, Millar has all sorts of runway to earn an opportunity on the wing for Canada going forward, especially in this camp.
Because of that, keep an eye out for him this window, as he should get the chance to play at his preferred left-wing spot, as well as on the right, where he’s done well in recent matches for Canada.
And perhaps we might even see him share that left flank with Alphonso Davies, too, who is returning to the Canadian fold this camp after a run of injuries, which could reignite a partnership that seemed to have potential at the start of Marsch’s tenure in 2024, before Millar’s knee injury that year allowed Ahmed to step in and become an impact contributor in his place.
As Canada looks to push for a deep run in the Nations League, they’ll be hoping that contributions from players such as Millar can help them overcome the challenges they face with their injuries right now, helping them set their quest to snap their trophy drought on the right foot.
