Sports Mole previews Tuesday’s Championship clash between Bristol City and Blackburn Rovers, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.
Aiming to move into the Championship’s top two, Bristol City play host to struggling Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday night.
Despite being heavily beaten last time out, the Robins have enjoyed an otherwise impressive campaign, while the relegation zone remains a little too close for comfort for Rovers.
Match preview
After finishing sixth last season and losing to Sheffield United in the playoff semi-finals, Bristol City have been keen to replicate that form this term under new manager Gerhard Struber.
The Austrian has so far overseen six wins, four draws and three losses in the Championship, with the Robins currently fifth on 22 points.
With 21 goals scored in their opening 13 league matches, Bristol City currently boast the joint third-best attack in the division and will aim to continue their strong offensive output to push towards the automatic promotion places.
Notably, in five of their six league wins, they have had less possession than their opponents and often look to soak up pressure before advancing on the counter-attack.
They will, however, be looking to respond after suffering a 5-1 defeat away to Stoke City on Saturday, a result they will be determined to ensure was only a brief setback.
As for Blackburn Rovers, they finished one place below Tuesday night’s opposition last season but have had a more difficult follow-up campaign.
Despite consecutive wins, Rovers have won just two other games, drawn once and lost a further seven in the first 12 Championship games, sitting 19th on 13 points.
A 2-0 victory on the road at Leicester City means Valerien Ismael‘s men are currently four points clear of Sheffield United, who currently occupy the last relegation spot.
Finally finding some consistent momentum, the Blackburn faithful will be hoping Andri Gudjohnsen can continue his impressive form after three goals in his last two.
Prior to the away win at the King Power on Saturday, Rovers had failed to score in three of their five away games and will be hoping that they can build on their recent results to kick-start their season.
Bristol City Championship form:
D L W W W L
Blackburn Rovers Championship form:
L D L L W W
Team News
Bristol City will once again be without a number of players, with Saturday’s defeat adding more injury woes for Struber’s side.
Luke McNally and Cameron Pring are still yet to feature this season, while Harry Cornick and captain Jason Knight remain sidelined alongside Max Bird, Joe Williams and Josh Stokes.
Rob Atkinson was forced off shortly after half time against Stoke and could be absent until after the international break.
Haydon Roberts is expected to replace him and join George Tanner and Rob Dickie in the back three.
As for the visitors, they will head to Ashton Gate without the services of Moussa Baradji, Jake Garrett, Hayden Carter and Augustus Kargbo.
Todd Cantwell has returned to training following a knee injury but is unlikely to make Tuesday’s trip to Bristol.
Taylor Gardner-Hickman is expected to start against his former side and pair up alongside Adam Forshaw in the centre of midfield.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Vitek; Tanner, Dickie, Roberts; Sykes, Randell, Vyner, Borges; Twine, Riis, Mehmeti
Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Toth; Miller, Wharton, McLoughlin; Alebiosu, Forshaw, Gardner-Hickman, De Neve; Henriksson, Gudjohnsen, Ohashi
We say: Bristol City 2-0 Blackburn Rovers
Keen to make amends from Saturday’s humbling defeat, Bristol City will be hoping to take advantage of a side who have been inconsistent at best this season. We expect Blackburn’s two game winning run to come to an end and the Robins claim their seventh league win of the season.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
ID:584955:1false2false3false: from db desktop :LenBod:collect7000:No Data Analysis infoPreviews by emailClick here to get Sports Mole‘s daily email of previews and predictions for every major game!