Luton Town face Bristol City at Ashton Gate with the opportunity to move a step closer to earning a top-10 spot in the Championship standings.
The home side, who sit six points adrift of their next opponents, have dropped down to 15th position after seven matches without success.
Match preview
© Reuters
When Nigel Pearson picked up three wins during the early weeks of his reign, it appeared that Bristol City could still emerge as late challengers for the playoffs.
That return has since turned into one win from 10 games, leaving Pearson under pressure to convince the powers-that-be that he remains the right man to lead the team next season.
The Bristol City hierarchy will likely give the former Leicester City boss an opportunity to make sweeping changes to a squad which has struggled for consistency in the short and long term.
Nevertheless, there is a feeling that Pearson must find a win from one of the club's remaining three fixtures, despite the triple-header being against teams sitting in the top 12.
Pearson needs more goals from his forward line with midfielder Tyreeq Bakinson netting City's only efforts during the last three games.
© Reuters
As far as Luton are concerned, their players could have decided that it was a case of job done once the club were mathematically safe from relegation.
However, Nathan Jones continues to get the maximum out of this squad with seven points coming from meetings with Wycombe Wanderers, Watford and Reading.
The Hatters have not finished as high as 10th spot in the second tier since 2005-06, but they currently sit just three points adrift of that position with four fixtures left.
With one of those games being at home to Middlesbrough, the current occupants of that place, that is all the motivation that Jones and this squad requires to keep pushing for as many points as possible.
Luton also head into this encounter having not conceded a goal from open play for over 300 minutes.
- L
- L
- L
- D
- D
- L
- W
- L
- L
- W
- W
- D
Team News
© Reuters
Barring any late fitness issues, Jones could stick with the Luton XI which started the goalless draw against Reading.
However, Harry Cornick, George Moncur, Glen Rea and James Collins will all feel in contention for a recall to the side.
After letting slip a lead against Wycombe, Pearson will almost certainly make alterations to his Bristol City starting lineup.
Kasey Palmer and Antoine Semenyo could be drafted into the final third with Han-Noah Massengo potentially missing out.
Adrian Mariappa or Jack Hunt may be preferred to Steven Sessegnon at right-back.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Hunt, Vyner, Kalas, Rowe; Lansbury, Nagy, Bakinson; Semenyo, Diedhiou, Palmer
Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Sluga; Bree, Pearson, Bradley, Naismith; Tunnicliffe, Dewsbury-Hall, Mpanzu; Moncur, Adebayo, LuaLua
We say: Bristol City 1-2 Luton Town
With little to play for, both sides could throw caution to the wind here as they bid to end the campaign on a high. On paper, the home team have the better players, but we are backing the Hatters to extend their current form with another three points.
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 Luton Town win with a probability of 40.9%. A draw had a probability of 30.3% and a win for Bristol City had a probability of 28.84%.
The most likely scoreline for a Luton Town win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.82%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.4%) and 1-2 (7.56%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (13.35%), while for a Bristol City win it was 1-0 (11.78%). The actual scoreline of 2-3 was predicted with a 1.3% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Luton Town would win this match.
