Another weekend of Sky Bet Championship football begins on Friday night when we have something of a battle of the west as Bristol City welcome Swansea City to Ashton Gate to start the fourth set of fixtures of the new campaign.
Both these sides have had their struggles this season but Bristol City are the ones who go into the match on a high after a midweek win so it will be interesting to see if that stands them in good stead during this encounter.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Football channel. There is a decent build-up to the game which begins at 7pm. The match kicks off at 7.45pm.
Bristol City
I think there was an expectation for the Robins to improve this season with Nigel Pearson at the helm. He takes no prisoners and generally knows what he is doing at this level but initially it appeared the terrible end to last season had been carried over into this one. I say that because they flattered to deceive a little against Blackpool in their opening match, albeit only dropped two points in injury time, and then they were brushed aside by Middlesbrough.
They kind of eased those fears on Tuesday evening though when they went to the Madejski Stadium and produced a good performance to see off Reading. What I’ve liked about Bristol City so far this season is they have created plenty of chances in their last couple of matches. There is still an issue for them to deal with defensively but you would expect Pearson to sort that out in time. The midweek win should certainly have built up some confidence to take forward.
Swansea City
Everything has just been a bit of a mess for Swansea City for the last month or so really. Whatever went on with Steve Cooper happened so late that they couldn’t really prepare for the beginning of the season and Russell Martin is playing catch up while running in treacle to an extent. I would imagine we’ll see a good Swansea side after the international break, even allowing for their obvious weakness, but up until then they might be termed a work in progress.
The big problem Swansea will have unless they dip into the transfer market between now and the end of the month is scoring goals but right now their big issue is to stop making errors at the back. Martin is asking his side to play out from the back and if the first three games are anything to go by it is a change that is going to take some time to get used to. The other issue they have is a goalkeeper who resembles a rabbit in headlights each time the ball comes near him which is never ideal.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this Sky Bet Championship! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
Bristol City have a doubt over the availability of Andy King who was withdrawn early in the match on Friday. If he hasn’t recovered in time for the match then Han-Noah Massengo could deputise. Callum O’Dowda could be available.
Swansea City could have Kyle Naughton back for this match after he has seemingly recovered from injury. Ryan Bennett is another who could be around for Russell Martin but there will be no Korey Smith who is out for the foreseeable future.
Betting
I’ve got to take Swansea City on here. If I had my money on them I’d have kittens every time the ball went near their goalkeeper. They just look an accident waiting to happen at the back and I think Bristol City can take advantage of that. The other problem Swansea have is in front of goal and three days since their last match isn’t going to be enough time to solve that issue. Even if it was I would imagine Russell Martin will be keen to sort the back line out before anything else.
When you look at the Bristol City results in isolation only their last one looks creditable but they were ahead until injury time against Blackpool in their opening match and a defeat at Middlesbrough isn’t the worst result in the world. They had a good win at Reading though and I suspect there is more natural and immediate improvement to come from them than Swansea. When you add in the home advantage I expect Bristol City to come out on top here.
Tips
Back Bristol City (-0.25AH) to beat Swansea City for a 3/10 stake at 2.02 with BetVictor
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021
