Swansea City travel to Bristol City this coming Saturday as they look to get back to winning ways after dropping points at home to Huddersfield Town, and then again on Wednesday night, away to Coventry City.
The Robins had their undefeated record wiped out at home to Middlesbrough in midweek after a defensive error handed Boro a 1-0 win in at Ashton Gate.
Match preview
© Reuters
Dean Holden will be hoping his Bristol City side can return to the form that has seen them win all four of their opening fixtures but will be conscious of the drop in energy levels shown against Boro.
Andrea Weimann, Nahki Wells and the rest of City's frontline appeared muted on Wednesday night as they failed to break down a combative Boro midfield and backline but City will hope that they can stamp their authority on an inconsistent Swansea side.
City now find themselves three points adrift of leaders Reading, but will not panic. Holden and his men will be all too aware of the long campaign ahead and, armed with one of the strongest squads in the league, they will hope to make it count in the busy weeks ahead.
Bournemouth and Norwich City lie in waiting for the Robins, making a return to form even more key as the West Country side attempt to not throw away such a great start to the campaign.
© Reuters
Swansea will too be looking to get back amongst the points and will see this trip to Bristol as an opportunity to make the most of the host's dip in form.
A disappointing home loss to Huddersfield was followed up with a 1-1 draw away to Championship new boys Coventry City, where they had to come from behind to salvage a point.
Steve Cooper's side were much-improved after the equaliser but had to settle for a draw, which extends their unbeaten away run to nine regular-season games, stretching back as far as February.
If Swansea can seal a win at Ashton Gate on Saturday, it will see them leapfrog the Robins in the table and secure their fourth win of the season.
Bristol City Championship form: WWWWDL
Bristol City form (all competitions): WWLWWDL
Swansea City Championship form: WDWWLD
Swansea City form (all competitions): LWDWWLD
Team News
© Reuters
Bristol City will have to make do without defender Alfie Mawson, after he was withdrawn during the first half of City's loss to Boro in the week. He will likely be replaced by fellow defender, Tomas Kalas.
Chris Martin cut a frustrated figure on Wednesday night and wasn't able to make the impact he'd hoped for. This could see him make way for Senegalese striker, Famara Diedhiou.
Swansea have no fresh injury concerns and will likely head into this matchup unchanged.
Viktor Gyokeres was replaced by Jay Fulton at half time on Wednesday night, and Steve Cooper could look to make that same change from the start should he wish to adopt a different formation.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Vyner, Moore, Kalas; Hunt, Paterson, Bakinson, Weimann, Rowe; Wells, Martin
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Cabango, Naughton, Guehi; Roberts, Smith, Grimes, Bidwell; Gyokeres; Ayew, Lowe
We say: Bristol City 1-1 Swansea City
Swansea have shown strong away form of late, and will provide a stern test for the Robins. We expect this to be a cagey affair with neither team willing to leave themselves exposed to their opponents attacking threat, and as a result, we see this one ending in a draw.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a home win in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Home Win:dataData 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 Swansea City win with a probability of 37.7%. A win for Bristol City had a probability of 35% and a draw had a probability of 27.3%.
The most likely scoreline for a Swansea City win was 0-1 with a probability of 10.79%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.12%) and 0-2 (6.77%). The likeliest Bristol City win was 1-0 (10.3%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.93%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.9% likelihood.
