Preview: Bradford City vs Rotherham United - prediction, team news, lineups

Two sides fighting at opposite ends of the League One table will do battle in a Yorkshire derby at The University of Bradford Stadium on Saturday, as Bradford City welcome Rotherham United.

The hosts sit third in pursuit of the automatic promotion spots, while their visitors have dropped into the bottom four in the midst of a losing run.

Match preview

Bradford City head into the weekend with the chance to climb into League One's top two following a strong festive period.

After sealing their return to England's third tier last time around, the Bantams have enjoyed a seamless transition thus far, sitting third having amassed 46 points from their 24 outings, winning 13 of those and only suffering a league-low tally of four defeats.

Graham Alexander's men have now won five of their last seven league games and three of their four since Christmas, firstly finishing 2025 by beating Wigan Athletic and Port Vale at home.

Then on the back of a 3-0 New Year's Day defeat to Mansfield Town, they visited Blackpool on Saturday and returned to winning ways, having led through Aden Baldwin and gone back ahead to seal a 2-1 triumph through Will Swan.

Now trailing second-placed Lincoln City by two points with a game in hand, and leading the rest of the teams in the playoff spots by seven points, Bradford City will go in search of a third straight victory to strengthen their back-to-back automatic promotion hopes.

Their visitors, meanwhile, head to the University of Bradford Stadium aiming to end a dismal run of form which has seen them drop into the relegation zone.

Following a slow start to their League One campaign under Matt Hamshaw, Rotherham United enjoyed a nine-game unbeaten streak between early October and late November to move onto 24 points from 18 outings.

They have failed to add another point to that tally in six attempts since, though, firstly falling to Blackpool, Plymouth Argyle and Huddersfield Town before Christmas.

The festive period did not see an improvement for the Millers, as they lost 2-1 and 4-0 to Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool respectively after Christmas, before Peterborough won 2-0 at the New York Stadium on New Year's Day through a Joe Rafferty own goal and a Brandon Khela goal.

Having since seen a proposed meeting with Mansfield Town last weekend postponed, Rotherham United now find themselves 22nd, four points adrift of safety, and will be desperate to end their slump at the weekend.

Bradford City League One form:

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Rotherham United League One form:

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Team News

Bradford City remain unable to call on Matthew Pennington, Lewis Richards, Nick Powell and key attacker Bobby Pointon, all of who are confined to the treatment room.

The Bantams could be unchanged from last week's away win over Blackpool, with Will Swan likely to lead the line again after netting his fifth league goal of the season in that game.

Louie Sibley will hope to earn a first start after his loan arrival from Oxford United, but mainstays Jenson Metcalfe and Max Power are bound to continue in the engine room.

Rotherham United continue to deal with a long injury list, with Hamish Douglas, Kian Spence, Josh Benson, Daniel Gore, Marvin Kaleta and Sam Nombe likely missing out again.

Reece James and Denzel Hall are fresh concerns after being forced off in the New Year's Day loss to Peterborough United.

Given the wide-scale absences, Jordan Hugill and Kion Etete should again partner up in attack, while Ar'Jany Martha and Joe Powell may have to take up wing-back roles if James and Hall miss out.

Bradford City possible starting lineup:

Walker; Baldwin, Tilt, Touray; Neufville, Power, Metcalfe, Wright; Sarcevic, Swan, Kavanagh

Rotherham United possible starting lineup:

Dawson; Rafferty, Jules, Baptiste; Martha, McWilliams, Yearwood, Kelly, Powell; Hugill, Etete

We say: Bradford City 2-0 Rotherham United

Having continued to build confidence over the festive period and strengthen their automatic promotion claim, Bradford City should make it three straight wins at home to a threadbare Rotherham United side who have been unable to halt a major slump.