{"id":644314,"date":"2025-12-20T13:45:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T13:45:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/644314\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T13:45:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T13:45:53","slug":"bristol-city-predicted-team-vs-middlesbrough-struber-reshuffle-expected-as-trio-push-for-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/644314\/","title":{"rendered":"Bristol City predicted team vs Middlesbrough: Struber reshuffle expected as trio push for return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bristol Live’s predicted Bristol City team to face Middlesbrough as Gerhard Struber’s Robins look to secure a first win in four before ChristmasBristol City and Gerhard Struber are in the middle of a three-match winless run(Image: EFL)<\/p>\n

Nothing says Christmas quite like a trip to Ashton Gate. For one final time before the big day, Bristol City<\/a> and Gerhard Struber are in Championship action once again as they welcome high-flying Middlesbrough to Ashton Gate this afternoon.<\/p>\n

The Robins’ meeting with Kim Hellberg’s side<\/a> comes a whole week after their last outing, a defeat to league leaders Coventry City<\/a>, which capped off what was a rather frustrating eight days for those of a red and white persuasion. Eight days that produced three good displays, but just a solitary point.<\/p>\n

City would have been a good value for at least a draw at the CBS Arena<\/a>. Sinclair Armstrong, Adam Randell, Emil Riis, and even Fally Mayulu came close<\/a> to scoring either side of what proved to be the winning goal from Ephron Mason-Clarke on the hour mark, but some poor finishing and excellent work from Carl Rushworth ensured the points remained in the Midlands.<\/p>\n

For this afternoon’s opponents, though, last weekend was one to remember. Boro stretched their winning run under the management of Hellberg to four matches as goals from David Strelec, Morgan Whittaker, and Tommy Conway were enough<\/a> to see them beat QPR 3-1 at the Riverside.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Kim Hellberg shares positive Bristol City verdict as Middlesbrough boss looks to end BS3 hoodoo<\/a>READ MORE: Bristol City and Millwall both hit with FA charges after recent pitchside Ashton Gate melee<\/a><\/p>\n

Such a result ensured that Middlesbrough kept their spot in the automatic promotion places. After 21 games, Hellberg’s side sit second in the Championship, seven points clear of third-place Preston North End and just five shy of Coventry.<\/p>\n

Understandably, therefore, City come into this one as underdogs. However, their quest to pull off a festive upset could be aided by the return of a few key players. Struber was hopeful earlier this week that each of Rob Atkinson, Zak Vyner, and George Tanner would again be available<\/a> for selection, news that was dampened slightly by the fact that Mark Sykes won’t be ready to feature again until the new year.<\/p>\n

With so many defensive players potentially fit once more, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Struber shuffle the pack this afternoon. In the meantime, here is how we think the Robins will set up against Middlesbrough today…<\/p>\n

Goalkeeper and defence<\/p>\n

It would be fair to say that Radek Vitek didn’t deserve to be on the losing side<\/a> against Coventry City last weekend. The Bristol City stopper kept the Robins in the game during the first half at the CBS Arena, and while he had less to do after the break, he once again impressed between the posts.<\/p>\n

Over the course of the season so far, it has only become clearer that the Manchester United loanee is very much Gerhard Struber’s number one. Barring a surprise injury, which wasn’t mentioned during this week’s press conference at Children’s Hospice South West, Vitek will keep hold of the gloves, and Max O’Leary will offer an alternative<\/a> from the bench.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the make-up of the backline ahead of the 22-year-old, however, things become a fair bit harder to predict, with Rob Dickie the only player close to a definite starter in defence.<\/p>\n

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Just who flanks the Reds’ vice-captain against Boro will likely come down to who, out of Zak Vyner, George Tanner, and Rob Atkinson, have come through the week’s training the fittest. In an ideal world, it would likely be Atkinson to Dickie’s left and Vyner to his right, but Struber admitted this week that the former’s workload will need to be managed carefully upon his return from injury.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, we\u2019ll hedge our bets and say that the back three will read, from right to left: Tanner, Dickie, and Vyner, with Atkinson and likely Haydon Roberts on the bench<\/a> as an alternative.<\/p>\n

Just to caveat all of what we’ve written above even further, it is not out of the question that this afternoon’s game will come too soon for all of Vyner, Tanner, and Atkinson. Should that be the case, Struber may have to opt for a back three of Roberts, Dickie, and Cam Pring, with Neto Borges unable to face his parent club<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Midfield<\/p>\n

While attempting to predict just how Bristol City’s back three will set up is as hard as it has ever been this weekend, things feel as if they’ve become a little simpler once again in midfield now that Jason Knight has returned from his recent groin injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Robins skipper came through his first 90 minutes since September against Coventry City last weekend, and we expect him to back up that showing with a second consecutive start against Middlesbrough. Judging by the evidence of the campaign so far, the Ireland international will almost certainly be partnered by Adam Randell, with youngster Jed Meerholz the only fit midfield alternative after Max Bird’s setback<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bristol City’s Adam Randell battles with Coventry City’s Tatsuhiro Sakamoto (Image: EFL)<\/p>\n

On the right, it is hard to look past Ross McCrorie<\/a> now that the Reds are likely to be without Mark Sykes until mid-January.<\/p>\n

The Scotsman flipped onto his more familiar flank when Sykes went off injured at the CBS Arena and will likely be a busy man over the festive period now that he is the only natural option available at right wing-back.<\/p>\n

On the opposite wing, we are going to suggest that it will be Cam Pring who gets the nod. As we mentioned earlier, there will be no Neto Borges for City this afternoon, with the Brazilian unable to face his parent club, having arrived at Ashton Gate on loan from the Riverside this summer.<\/p>\n

Without the 29-year-old, Pring, Haydon Roberts, and Elijah Morrison are the remaining left-sided options<\/a>. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Roberts thrust into the starting line-up if Pring’s services are required in the back three, but otherwise, it seems likely he will again start from the bench.<\/p>\n

Attack and striker<\/p>\n

The bulk of the dilemmas facing Gerhard Struber up until this point have been questions of personnel and fitness. When it comes to just how the Bristol City boss sets up his front three against Middlesbrough, however, the uncertainty surrounds the system more than those who play in it. Will it be two strikers and a sole 10, or two 10s and a sole striker?<\/p>\n

In all honesty, only the players, the City boss and his staff know which formation the Austrian will have opted for… but we’ll have a guess anyway.<\/p>\n

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Our bet is that Struber will stand by the same front three that created plenty of chances against both Coventry last weekend and in the second half against Leicester City: Anis Mehmeti in attacking midfield, just behind a strike partnership of Sinclair Armstrong and Emil Riis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The combination of Riis and Armstrong seems to cause opposition backlines plenty of trouble, while also providing space within which Mehmeti can work his magic. Would it be harsh on Scott Twine to leave him<\/a> out for two successive matches? Yes, but he will have a big role to play from the bench and over the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Should we be incorrect and City do revert back to the 3-4-2-1 they have used for most of the campaign so far, it will likely be Armstrong who drops to the bench to accommodate Twine. Despite the 22-year-old’s recent good form, it seems Riis remains the first-choice number nine.<\/p>\n

With the injury list seemingly beginning to clear slightly, we would expect Fally Mayulu, Harry Cornick, Yu Hirakawa, and one of Ephraim Yeboah or Olly Thomas<\/a> to feature among the substitutes as attacking reinforcements.<\/p>\n

Bristol City predicted XI (3-4-1-2):<\/strong> Radek Vitek; George Tanner, Rob Dickie, Zak Vyner; Ross McCrorie, Adam Randell, Jason Knight; Cam Pring; Anis Mehmeti; Emil Riis, Sinclair Armstrong<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Gerhard Struber evaluates Bristol City start as Robins’ festive route to ‘sexy spots’ mapped out<\/a>READ MORE: Ross McCrorie on Bristol City focus, Tommy Conway banter and how promotion can aid World Cup aim<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol Live’s predicted Bristol City team to face Middlesbrough as Gerhard Struber’s Robins look to secure a first…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":644315,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,2686,748,393,14590,4884,29074,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-644314","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bristol","8":"tag-bristol","9":"tag-bristol-city-fc","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-football-league-championship","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-middlesbrough-fc","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115752206117706685","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644314\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/644315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}