Bristol City and Swansea City will bring round 31 of the Championship to an end when they go head to head at Ashton Gate on Sunday afternoon.
While the Swans set out to snap their run of five back-to-back defeats across all competitions, the home side could move into the playoff places with all three points this weekend.
Match preview
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Bristol City were denied consecutive wins for the first time this year as they could only salvage a 1-1 draw against Oxford City when the two sides squared off at the Kassam Stadium last Saturday.
Despite finishing the contest with nine men after Joe Williams and Ross McCrorie picked up red cards in either half, Mark Sykes netted in the 65th minute to cancel out Greg Leigh's 59th-minute opener and force a share of the spoils.
Prior to that, Bristol City snapped their run of three consecutive games without a win across all competitions on January 25, when they edged out Blackburn Rovers 2-1 courtesy of goals from Scott Twine and experienced striker Nahki Wells.
With last weekend's result, Liam Manning's men are unbeaten in seven of their last eight Championship matches — claiming four wins and three draws — having managed just one win from the seven games preceding this run.
This upturn in form has seen the Robins move into playoff contention as they currently sit ninth in the Championship table, level on 42 points with Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday, and two points adrift of sixth-placed West Bromwich Albion in the final playoff spot.
While Bristol City have failed to taste victory in each of their last eight games on the road, they now return home, where they are on a four-match winning streak in the league and have picked up 16 points from a possible 18 since a 1-0 loss against Burnley on November 23.
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On the other hand, Swansea City added another to their growing list of dire results in 2025 as they were beaten 2-0 by a rejuvenated Coventry City side at the Swansea.com Stadium last weekend.
Brandon Thomas-Asante grabbed the headlines for the Sky Blues as he set up Ellis Sims's 17th-minute opener before doubling the lead on the stroke of half time to inspire them to their first win over the home side since 1981.
Swansea have now lost five consecutive matches, including a 3-0 defeat against Southampton in the third round of the FA Cup on January 1, and have failed to win each of their seven matches since the turn of the year, losing six and claiming one draw so far.
This rotten start to 2025 has seen Luke Williams's men plunge deep into the bottom half of the Championship table as they currently occupy 17th place with 34 points from 30 games, seven points above the dotted line.
While Swansea will be looking to find their feet this weekend and get up and running in the new year, they have failed to get the better of Bristol City in their most recent three encounters, losing twice and claiming one draw, and have managed just one win in their last seven visits to Ashton Gate since February 2019.
Team News
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Bristol City will have to cope without the services of Williams and McCrorie, who are both suspended after receiving their marching orders against Oxford United last time out.
On the injury front, the Robins will take to the pitch without 21-year-old midfielder Ayman Benarous, who has been ruled out since last July through a hamstring problem.
Cameron Pring has missed each of the last five matches since coming off with a muscle problem against Plymouth Argyle on New Year's Day and the defender is also out of contention for the hosts.
As for Swansea, Harry Darling will play no part in this weekend's clash as he serves the last of his three-game suspension after picking up a straight red against Sheffield United on January 21.
Danish defender Kristian Pedersen continues his lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering a hamstring injury against Wycombe Wanderers last August.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
O'Leary; Vyner, McNally, Dickie; Sykes, Bird, Knight, Tanner; Twine, Mehmeti, Wells
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Vigouroux; Christie, Cabango, Delcroix; Key, Fulton, Franco, Tymon; Ronald, Cullen, Eom
We say: Bristol City 2-0 Swansea City
It has been a rough start to 2025 for Swansea, who have lost all but one of their seven matches across all competitions. While the Swans will be looking to stop the rot, they are in for a tough 90 minutes at Ashton Gate, where Bristol City have picked up 16 points from a possible 18 in the league.
That said, we predict that the Robins will maintain their impressive run of results in front of their home supporters and come away with the desired results this weekend.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Joshua Ojele
