Bristol Rovers predicted team vs Cambridge: Limited changes expected as Gas look for next step

Bristol Rovers host Cambridge United in League Two this afternoon looking for their first win of the season

Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter

07:00, 23 Aug 2025

Dan Hargraves

Dan Hargraves is the Bristol Rovers reporter for Bristol Live. He joined the title in July 2023 having previously worked for Reach PLC as a freelance football writer in April 2022 while a journalism student at the University of Derby.
He has also reported on a number of football matches across European competition, the Premier League and EFL and covered the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022. In his role as covering the Gas, he wants to leave no stone unturned and cover every angle of the football club for Gasheads’ enjoyment.

Bristol Rovers drew 0-0 at home to Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)

Bristol Rovers are still yet to pick up their first win of the new season but are hopefully on an upward trajectory now towards it after a much improved performance against Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night.

Another day and Rovers might have won that by two or even three goals. However, they were forced to settle for a 0-0 draw on a night where supporters responded positively to the improvement in quality on the pitch.

We are still in August, of course, but being a club hoping to be in the promotion picture this season, it would be pretty frustrating to end the first month of the season without victory. It does feel as though that win is around the corner; hopefully it shows itself this afternoon.

Cambridge United are the visitors, a team that are pretty familiar to the Gas. The two sides were relegated from League One alongside each other last season while the Us were last in north Bristol less than a fortnight ago as they beat Rovers 2-0 in the Carabao Cup first round in what was a poor display from the hosts.

This is expected to be a much different game for a number of reasons. One of those is that Darrell Clarke’s side look to finally set some cogs moving in the right direction. Admittedly, they may be turning slightly slower than fans would like, but it only takes one win to get the campaign kickstarted.

There was plenty to like about Tuesday night’s performance. Here is how I think Rovers might line up this afternoon…

Fans finally got what they had wished for on Tuesday night when Darrell Clarke set up his team with a back-four, having started the previous four matches with a back-three. When they had switched to a four in matches, they looked more fluid and dangerous, although that was also often while they were trailing matches.

When asked about the change in his pre-match press conference, Clarke reinforced the point that he will be adaptable when it comes to shapes and systems and that he thought the change in formation would work for facing Oldham Athletic, but perhaps it won’t against Cambridge United or a different opposition. From the outside looking in, it felt like a bit of keeping cards close to the chest.

It cannot be ignored how much improved Tuesday night’s performance was and, hopefully, it laid foundations to go that one step further today and get the victory. Therefore, I would be surprised to see a switch back to the old shape.

Luke Southwood in goal is a given. The number one goalkeeper has just been called up for Northern Ireland, meaning that he will miss the trip to Newport County in a fortnight which is bittersweet.

Ahead of him, although Kacper Lopata seemed to hobble off the pitch a bit on Tuesday night, assistant head coach Jon Stead seemed to play off the suggestion that it was anything to be concerned about. The 23-year-old alongside Alfie Kilgour looked solid and steady and the pair should be starting together once again. Should Lopata not be available, you would expect Taylor Moore to step in due to the fact that Clinton Mola wasn’t in the squad on Tuesday and Dan Ellison is still yet to make his EFL debut.

Out wide, Jack Sparkes is the obvious choice on the left. The left-back made a major contribution to the offensive effort in the second half and was so unlucky to strike the crossbar from a free-kick late on.

On the opposite flank, Macauely Southam-Hales had a fantastic evening and there is going to be real competition between him and Joel Senior now. There is still a bit of uncertainty around whether the right-back will be suspended for just the one game or three following his red card against Chesterfield. The ruling states that red cards for last man fouls result in just the one game ban.

Macauley Southam-Hales pictured in action for Bristol Rovers against Oldham Athletic(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)

Either way, as excellent as Senior was in pre-season and the first couple of games of the campaign, it’s going to be extremely close between the pair for that starting position but Southam-Hales was just slightly more effective going forward on Tuesday night. Not an easy decision for Clarke.

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Midfield

Josh McEachran and Kamil Conteh’s partnership had its best game of the season so far on Tuesday night with both players outstanding against Oldham. We know what Conteh can do and the 22-year-old has taken a couple of weeks to dust off the cobwebs after his lengthy spell out while McEachran, although a new player in north Bristol, has technical ability that is talked throughout football from his Chelsea days.

After starting together in all four league matches so far, it’s a no-brainer that the duo line up again. Additionally, 21-year-old Ryan Howley has down very well too, particularly in matches against Chesterfield and Oldham having come into the starting line up in the cup tie against Cambridge.

Jon Stead admitted that all three have capabilities of playing as a six but it was McEachran who filled the pockets on Tuesday night with Conteh and Howley given a bit more licence to get forward. It’s still an area that needs strengthening, but the trio all had good nights earlier in the week. Perhaps some fatigue might start to kick in around the 60-70 minute mark.

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Attack

The only change in my predicted team from the Oldham game is bringing in Isaac Hutchinson for Ruel Sotiriou. The attacking midfielder was unfortunate not to start after his goal and display from the bench at Chesterfield, with Sotiriou getting the nod alongside Promise Omochere and Fabrizio Cavegn.

He was unfortunate not to score in the first half, forcing a save from the goalkeeper from close range, but then picked up what will hopefully only be a knock later in the opening 45 minutes. It all stemmed from a bad tackle of his own which saw him booked.

Luke Thomas came on for Sotiriou and looked closer to his usual self. He too is an option to come in.

In regards to Omochere and Cavegn, there’s no real reason why the pair shouldn’t start again. For Cavegn, the Swiss just needs that first golden opportunity to tuck away and get off the mark while his strike partner looked much more effective when deployed on the right hand side, a position more similar to where he often found himself at Fleetwood.

Again, Clarke kept his cards close to his chest when asked about the Irishman, but explained he sees Omochere as someone who can be as effective through the middle as he is out wide.

Bringing in Ellis Harrison could offer some fresh legs if required while Ollie Dewsbury will almost certainly get a start in the EFL Trophy against Tottenham Hotspur Under-21s next week.

Bristol Rovers predicted XI vs Cambridge United: Luke Southwood; Macauley Southam-Hales, Kacper Lopata, Alfie Kilgour, Jack Sparkes; Josh McEachran, Kamil Conteh, Ryan Howley; Isaac Hutchinson, Promise Omochere, Fabrizio Cavegn

Bristol Rovers predicted team vs Cambridge: Limited changes expected as Gas look for next step

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