Blackburn Rovers square off against Bristol City on Saturday afternoon looking to record their fourth victory from five matches in the Championship.

The home side have been on an opposite trajectory to their next opponents, losing five of their last six outings to drop closer to the relegation zone.

Match preview

Bristol City manager Nigel Pearson pictured on September 25, 2021 © Reuters

When Bristol City finally ended their wait for a win at Ashton Gate in October, there was a feeling that Nigel Pearson's side may have finally turned a corner.

However, successive defeats at Birmingham City and Coventry City have left the club in 18th position, now just seven points above the bottom three.

While the Robins were outclassed against the Blues, frustration was greater in their next match, losing by a 3-2 scoreline after being one goal to the good with a man advantage.

Pearson's team have now conceded 16 goals in seven matches and kept no clean sheet in 11, giving them the fourth-worst defensive record in the division.

Andreas Weimann has netted three of Bristol City's last four goals, taking the Austrian to seven strikes from 17 starts in the second tier.

Blackburn Rovers manager Tony Mowbray on October 19, 2021 © Reuters

Meanwhile, Blackburn remain on the fringes of the playoffs despite their 7-0 drubbing at the hands of Fulham earlier in the month.

The defeat came as a shock to Tony Mowbray after two successive wins, but Rovers responded with a 3-1 triumph over Sheffield United last time out.

Most importantly to Mowbray, two of his loanees - Reda Khadra and Ian Poveda-Ocampo - finally netted their first goals of the season during that contest.

Ben Brereton Diaz also added a 13th for the campaign, and Rovers now hold the fourth-best attacking record in the division behind Fulham, Bournemouth and Queens Park Rangers.

Bristol City Championship form:

Blackburn Rovers Championship form:

Team News

Bristol City's Nahki Wells celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates on January 23, 2021 © Reuters

On the back of their second-half performance at the Ricoh Arena, Bristol City boss Pearson will almost certainly make a couple of alterations.

Jay Dasilva is in line to start at left-back, while Nahki Wells is an alternative to Alex Scott as a partner to Chris Martin.

Danny Simpson is expected to replace the injured George Tanner at right-back, and midfielder Joe Williams is also available.

Mowbray will give consideration to selecting the same Rovers side which performed well against Sheffield United.

Tyrhys Dolan and Joe Rothwell are alternatives in attack and midfield respectively, but defender Jan Paul van Hecke remains suspended.

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Simpson, Kalas, Vyner, Dasilva; Weimann, Massengo, Bakinson, O'Dowda; Scott; Martin

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Nyambe, Lenihan, Wharton, Edun; Poveda-Ocampo, Travis, Davenport, Khadra; Buckley; Brereton Diaz

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We say: Bristol City 1-2 Blackburn Rovers

While the international break undoubtedly came at the right time for Bristol City, we do not believe that it will change the end result at the weekend. Blackburn have the potential to be a strong team away from home, and that has led to us backing a Rovers victory.

Top tip

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Data Analysis

Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Blackburn Rovers win with a probability of 47.46%. A draw had a probability of 27.8% and a win for Bristol City had a probability of 24.7%.

The most likely scoreline for a Blackburn Rovers win was 0-1 with a probability of 14.37%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (9.7%) and 1-2 (8.63%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.79%), while for a Bristol City win it was 1-0 (9.48%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 12.8% likelihood.