Peterborough United will make the trip to Ashton Gate to face Bristol City on Saturday, desperately requiring all three points to retain a chance of avoiding relegation from the Championship.
At a time when the visitors are 10 points adrift of safety with six matches remaining, Bristol City find themselves in 19th position in the standings after three matches without success.
Match preview
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For the past month, Peterborough have looked like a team very much on the up under Grant McCann, particularly after they defeated Queens Park Rangers before the international break.
However, collecting just a point from difficult games against Middlesbrough and Luton Town has left Posh on the brink of relegation, the club currently requiring a bare minimum of 11 points from six games to retain a minimal chance of staying in the second tier.
Peterborough simply must take advantage of fixtures such as the one this weekend, and their recent away record suggests that they are capable of achieving just their seventh league triumph of the season.
Four points have been accumulated from fixtures on the road against Bournemouth and QPR, the same amount of points which had come from their previous 18 away games.
Jonson Clarke-Harris has scored five goals in as many appearances, taking his tally for the Championship campaign to 10.
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If any team wants 2021-22 to reach a conclusion as soon as possible, it is Bristol City, who have now posted 20 defeats from their 40 fixtures.
For a team who had ambitions of challenging for the playoffs, it has been a dismal season, and their recent winless streak was extended to three games with defeat at Bournemouth last weekend.
On a positive note, the Robins forced their promotion-chasing hosts to work hard for victory, but a 3-2 reverse made it 72 goals conceded this season, the third-worst return in the division.
Although Andreas Weimann netted his 19th Championship goal on the South Coast, Nigel Pearson is aware that the output of the Austria international is arguably the solitary success story of this season.
The powers-that-be at Ashton Gate may have already decided the fate of their manager, and only three points against Peterborough will ease any pressure with regards to his position in the dugout.
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Team News
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The trio of Antoine Semenyo, Andy King and Callum O'Dowda are all in line to come back into contention for Bristol City at the weekend.
However, they may have to make do with a spot among the replacements at best with Han-Noah Massengo and Zak Vyner the most likely alternatives to be drafted into the starting lineup.
After the spirited draw with Luton in midweek, only the need to introduce fresh legs may lead to McCann making changes to his Peterborough XI.
Sammie Szmodics is an option in a creative position or in attack, as his Ricky-Jade Jones who played the final quarter versus the Hatters.
Midfielder Oliver Norburn has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Cundy, Klose, Atkinson; Dasilva, James, Scott, Pring; Weimann; Wells, Martin
Peterborough United possible starting lineup:
Cornell; Knight, Edwards, Kent; Ward, Taylor, Fuchs, Burrows; Szmodics; Marriott, Clarke-Harris
We say: Bristol City 2-1 Peterborough United
With draws no longer good enough for Peterborough, we expect Posh to go on the attack at Ashton Gate. However, there has been little wrong with Bristol City's attacking play this campaign, and extra space could lead to a hard-fought success for the Robins.
Top tip
Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Bristol City win with a probability of 54.44%. A draw had a probability of 23.5% and a win for Peterborough United had a probability of 22.05%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bristol City win was 1-0 with a probability of 10.84%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (9.79%) and 2-0 (9.52%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (11.15%), while for a Peterborough United win it was 0-1 (6.35%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with an 11.2% likelihood.
