Preview: Bristol City vs Sheffield United - prediction, team news, lineups

Both aiming to bounce back from midweek defeats, Bristol City and Sheffield United will square off at Ashton Gate on Saturday.

A loss to Blackburn Rovers saw the hosts fall to 12th place in the Championship table, while their visitors sit two points worse off in 14th spot.

Match preview

Bristol City return to action on Saturday aiming to record their first victory since the international break and climb back towards the Championship playoff places.

On the back of a 12th-placed finish last time around, they turned to Michael Skubala over the summer, and after his first 10 league matches at the helm they sit in the same spot on 14 points from 10 outings.

The Robins have won four and lost four of those 10 games, with three of those defeats coming in their last five outings either side of the September and October international break, albeit having followed up consecutive losses with a win over Watford before that three-week break.

On their return to action, Skubala's side visited Charlton Athletic last weekend and took a point from a 1-1 draw, as Scott Twine levelled with a first-half penalty, before they hosted Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday and fell to a 1-0 defeat as Oladapo Afolayan scored the only goal.

Having now dropped back to 12th spot and struggled to get going at Ashton Gate so far this season, winning two and losing three of their five home league games thus far, Bristol City will hope to get back on track with the chance to move back into the top eight with a victory if other results go their way.

Their visitors, meanwhile, are also in search of a return to winning ways with the hopes of leapfrogging the hosts and putting themselves back around the top eight.

Aiming to put a disappointing 13th-placed finish behind them and return to challenging for promotion to the Premier League, Sheffield United are yet to hit their stride this season, currently sitting 15th after 10 games with 12 points on the board.

The Blades have lost four of those including three of their last four and five of their last seven games in all competitions, having gone into the break on the back of losses to Wolves and Stoke City either side of an EFL Cup exit at the hands of fourth-tier Fleetwood Town.

Chris Wilder's side did bounce back on their return, beating Lincoln City 3-0 at the weekend and looked set to fight from behind to earn a point on Wednesday away at Portsmouth, trailing 2-0 with 10 men around the hour mark and drawing level through Japhet Tanganga and Tom Cannon, only for Ebou Adams to snatch all three points for the hosts with an 89th-minute winner in a 3-2 home triumph.

Left wounded by that midweek defeat after a valiant effort with 10 men for the second half, but with their recent form far from convincing, Sheffield United will be desperate to finally kickstart their season in the coming weeks and bounce back on Saturday.

Bristol City Championship form:

Sheffield United Championship form:

Sheffield United form (all competitions):

Team News

Bristol City defender Noah Elie remains out of action through illness, while defender Rob Dickie is still sidelined and Lorent Tolaj is unlikely to be deemed fit to start having also missed the last three games.

In the absence of Dickie and Elie, and with Luke McNally still being eased back into action after a long injury, Lisav Eissat and Rob Atkinson should again partner up at the heart of a back four, while Gibson Yah will hope to keep his place in midfield alongside Jason Knight but faces competition from Brian De Keersmaecker.

Yu Hirakawa, Toni Horvat and Elijah Adebayo will compete for attacking starts after Jed Wallace, Sam Greenwood and Scott Twine lined up on Saturday in support of Dominic Ballard, who has scored three league goals since his summer arrival.

Sheffield United are without Hamza Choudhury, who was sent off against Portsmouth, while first-choice right-back Femi Seriki is still sidelined and Matt Doherty is unlikely to feature.

That may force Wilder to switch to a back three of Japhet Tanganga, Liam Kitching and Mark McGuinness with Tahith Chong operating in a makeshift right wing-back role.

Tom Cannon and Patrick Bamford may again line up in attack, while Kalvin Phillips impressed off the bench in midweek after a brief injury layoff and could join Sydie Peck from the outset on Saturday.

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

Tickle; Tanner, Eissat, Atkinson, Cardines; Knight, De Keersmaecker; Wallace, Hirakawa, Twine; Ballard

Sheffield United possible starting lineup:

Cooper; Tanganga, McGuinness, Kitching; Chong, Phillips, Peck, McCallum; Cannon, Bamford, Brereton Diaz

We say: Bristol City 1-1 Sheffield United

Sheffield United have shown signs of improvement since the international break and were only denied a point late on with 10 men in midweek, and we fancy them to earn a creditable point in Saturday's trip with the hosts missing several key men.

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