Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs. Bristol City - prediction, team news, lineups

Slaven Bilic's West Bromwich Albion welcome Bristol City to the Hawthorns on Wednesday with both sides looking to keep pace with the other promotion contenders.

The Baggies currently sit second in the table, with Lee Johnson's side seven points further back in seventh.

Match Preview

A win on Wednesday will take Bilic's men, who are currently the joint highest scorers in the division, back above Leeds United at the top of the table.

The West Midlands club have been particularly dynamic this season, with Grady Diangana, Matt Phillips and Matheus Pereira pulling the creative strings.

West Brom's victory on Saturday against Sheffield Wednesday was their third league win in a row and while the Baggies are unbeaten in 15 at home, they have not won four consecutive league games in seven years.

While the creative players have been the standouts for Bilic's side this season, Hal Robson-Kanu will be worth watching on Wednesday; the Welshman has scored four goals in his last six matches, the same number he managed in his previous 52 for the club.

Bristol City might be one of the division's most inconsistent and hard to predict teams but they are unbeaten in five league games, a run that has taken them to within touching distance of the playoffs.

While they are winless in their last five trips to the Hawthorns, a win on Wednesday will push Johnson's side up to fourth in the table heading into the busy month of December.

The Robins have tended to opt for a 3-5-2 this season, a formation that allows them to get numbers behind the ball before hitting teams with pace and width on the counter.

Although that system has served them well defensively, City have struggled to break teams down and they failed to record a single shot on target against Nottingham Forest at the weekend.

West Bromwich Albion recent form: WDDWWW Bristol City recent form (all competitions): LWDDWD

Team News

For the first time since taking over as West Brom manager, Slaven Bilic has a full complement of players to choose from for Wednesday's game.

Kieran Gibbs and Gareth Barry are back from injury, while Nathan Ferguson, Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers are all now available after serving their respective suspensions.

As such, the Croat is likely to rotate some players with an eye on keeping people fresh with their schedule intensifying in the coming weeks.

Bristol City remain without a number of key names including Jack Hunt, Jay DaSilva and Benik Afobe, while defenders Tomas Kalas and Taylor Moore are doubts.

Lee Johnson is also expected to make a few changes to his starting XI for this midweek game as he seeks to add a bit more creativity to the team.

West Bromwich Albion possible starting lineup: Johnstone; Furlong, Bartley, Ajayi, Ferguson; Livermore, Sawyers; Phillips, Pereira, Diangana; Austin

Bristol City possible starting lineup: Bentley; Wright, Williams, Baker; Eliasson, Brownhill, Nagy, Palmer, Rowe; Diedhiou, Weimann

We say: West Bromwich Albion 2-0 Bristol City

West Brom have consistently found a way to create chances, score goals and win this season and that looks set to continue against a somewhat inconsistent Bristol City side who have drawn three of their last five games.