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Attendance: 23,796
Bristol City
Championship | Gameweek 37
Mar 7, 2020 at 12.30pm UK
 
Fulham logo

1-1

Wells (70')
FT(HT: 0-0)
Cairney (84')

Preview: Bristol City vs. Fulham - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Saturday's Championship clash between Bristol City and Fulham, including team news and prediction.

Championship promotion rivals Bristol City and Fulham face off at Ashton Gate in Saturday's early kickoff.

City are winless in four league matches, while the visitors enter the game on the back of successive wins to open up a nine-point gap on their opponents.


Match preview

Bristol City boss Lee Johnson on February 1, 2020© Reuters

One point collected from the last 12 on offer has seen City slide out of the playoffs and the same old questions asked of boss Lee Johnson.

The Robins have been unable to see through promotion challenges in recent times, though they did at least end a three-game losing run in last week's 1-1 draw at Millwall.

Pedro Pereira fired Johnson's men in front at The Den, only for Matt Smith to convert as City missed out on the chance to move back into the top six.

As it is, with just 10 games of the season to go, they find themselves two points behind Preston North End in sixth.

Of those 10 remaining matches, three games are against sides above them, including Saturday's visit of high-flying Fulham.

Fulham manager Scott Parker on February 15, 2020© Reuters

The Cottagers are providing the biggest threat to West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United for automatic promotion, but the gap on the two sides above them remains at six and five points respectively.

Scott Parker's men have refound their form again over the past couple of weeks with wins over Swansea City - thanks to a 94th-minute goal - and Preston at Craven Cottage.

They have been held 1-1 in back-to-back away games, though, and have won on their travels just twice in nine attempts in all competitions.

However, Fulham are unbeaten in their last four away league games against Bristol City since a 5-1 defeat in April 1990, winning three of those matches.

Another win at Ashton Gate this weekend will see them all but seal a place in the end-of-season playoffs, though Parker will no doubt still have his sights set on breaking into the top two.

Bristol City's Championship form: LWLLLD

Fulham's Championship form: WDLDWW


Team News

Bristol City's Famara Diedhiou celebrates scoring their first goal on February 1, 2020© Reuters

First-choice stopper Daniel Bentley remains absent with a groin injury, so Niki Maenpaa will continue to operate in goal for the home side.

Marley Watkins and Benik Afobe are City's other two confirmed injury absentees, but Johnson does at least have Niclas Eliasson and Nahki Wells pushing for inclusion.

Famara Diedhiou has scored three times in his last seven outings, meanwhile, and is expected to retain his place upfront.

Fulham will be without hamstring injury victim Joe Bryan for this match, meaning a likely start at right-back for Cyrus Christie.

Aboubakar Kamara boasts the best minute-per-goal ratio of any player in the division to have played at least 500 minutes, and his form could see him rewarded with a start here.

If that is the case, Anthony Knockaert is the favourite to drop down to the bench after failing to play a part in a goal in Fulham's last four matches.

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Maenpaa; Pereira, Kalas, Baker, Dasilva; Paterson, Smith, Nagy, Eliasson; Diedhiou, Wells

Fulham possible starting lineup:
Rodak; Christie, Hector, Ream, Odoi; Arter, Cairney; Kamara, Reid, Cavaleiro; Mitrovic


Sports Mole Logo

We say: Bristol City 1-2 Fulham

Since the start of December, only Hull City (six) have lost more home Championship games than Bristol City (five). The Robins picked up a point in their most recent outing away at Millwall, but Fulham have regained some momentum and we are backing them to win this one.



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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 win with a probability of 40.46%. A win for had a probability of 33.44% and a draw had a probability of 26.1%.

The most likely scoreline for a win was 0-1 with a probability of 9.99%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.64%) and 0-2 (6.96%). The likeliest win was 1-0 (8.91%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.4%).


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Fulham manager Scott Parker pictured on February 26, 2020
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8Middlesbrough45199176861766
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10Preston North EndPreston44189175661-563
11Bristol City451711175347662
12Cardiff CityCardiff45195215165-1462
13Swansea CitySwansea451512185964-557
14Watford451317156058256
15Sunderland45168215252056
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17Queens Park RangersQPR451411204557-1253
18Stoke CityStoke451411204560-1553
19Blackburn RoversBlackburn451311215874-1650
20Sheffield WednesdaySheff Weds45148234268-2650
21Plymouth ArgylePlymouth451212215870-1248
22Birmingham CityBirmingham451211224965-1647
23Huddersfield TownHuddersfield45918184875-2745
RRotherham UnitedRotherham45412293287-5524


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