Both Bristol City and Birmingham City will be hoping to preserve their unbeaten statuses in the Championship when they clash at Ashton Gate on Saturday afternoon.

The hosts were late winners at The Den against Millwall last weekend, while Birmingham enjoyed a special day at St Andrew's in the presence of their new ownership group.

Match preview

Bristol City recorded their maiden victory of the second-tier campaign in dramatic style against Gary Rowett's Millwall last time out, with the decisive goal coming from an unlikely source.

Matty James netted only his second goal in 75 appearances for the Robins at The Den - the 32-year-old's acrobatic winner in the 94th minute sent the visiting supporters behind the goal into hysterics.

Nigel Pearson's men head into Saturday's match looking to earn back-to-back wins for the first time in the Championship since September 2022, with that type of record highlighting just how inconsistent City have been over the past 12 months.

Ashton Gate was treated to a five-star performance from the Robins the last time it opened its turnstiles on August 9, when a Jason Knight brace helped Pearson's charges to a 5-1 thrashing of League One outfit Oxford United in the EFL Cup.

There has not been any incomings at Bristol City since Knight's on July 11, but after pocketing £22m from the sale of Alex Scott to Bournemouth, supporters will be expecting some arrivals in the latter stages of this summer window.

Birmingham head down to Ashton Gate this weekend after a simply magical afternoon in the Second City last Saturday, when John Eustace's side earned a brilliant win against Leeds United.

Daniel Farke's Whites had a distinct second-tier feel to them due to the absences of Willy Gnonto, Crysencio Summerville and Luis Sinisterra, and Blues were more than a match for their recently-relegated visitors.

A cagey affair in the West Midlands was decided in the closing stages, when a Daniel James foul on Ethan Laird in the box allowed Lukas Jutkiewicz to snatch all three points from 12 yards out in added time.

A sell-out crowd of over 21,000 - the club's highest since February 2020 - rocked up to a revamped St Andrew's to witness an impressive display against Leeds, and supporters are starting to believe that Birmingham could be on the rise once again.

Ashton Gate has been a happy hunting ground for Blues over the past few years, with Eustace's charges winning three of their last four matches at Bristol City, but January's trip to the West Country ended in a 4-2 defeat.

Team News

Bristol City are preparing to be without the services of Austrian Andreas Weimann until September due to a heel injury - the attacker's influence on matches has dwindled since the 2021-22 campaign, in which he produced 32 goal contributions.

A long-term absentee for the Robins is centre-back Robert Atkinson, who is still recovering from a cruciate ligament injury suffered in February at the Stadium of Light against Sunderland.

Anis Mehmeti has proved to be a fans' favourite since his switch from Wycombe Wanderers last season, and the Albanian will be pushing the likes of Mark Sykes for a starting berth in the coming weeks.

Birmingham are expected to make very few changes to the side who beat Leeds last time out, meaning a defensive-midfield pairing of Krystian Bielik and Ivan Sunjic will keep Jordan James out of the team for a third week running.

Kevin Long and Dion Sanderson are the visitors' only fit centre-backs following the calf injury sustained by Marc Roberts, although the Englishman is set to return to training next week.

Youngster George Hall has the potential to set the Championship alight when he fully recovers from his ankle knock - the 19-year-old has participated in training this week and could feature on the bench at Ashton Gate.

Siriki Dembele will retain his place in the starting XI after tormenting right-back Luke Ayling with his trickery last weekend, but it remains to be seen whether Koji Miyoshi will join the Scotsman and Juninho Bacuna in the attacking-minded three behind striker Scott Hogan.

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
O'Leary; Tanner, Vyner, Dickie, Pring; James, Williams, Knight; Mehmeti, Bell, Wells

Birmingham City possible starting lineup:
Ruddy; Laird, Sanderson, Long, Buchanan; Bielik, Sunjic; Bacuna, Anderson, Dembele; Hogan

We say: Bristol City 1-1 Birmingham City

Bristol City will be full of confidence after their last-minute win at Millwall, but the Robins' inconsistent tendencies could hinder their chances of securing maximum points this time out.

Birmingham are also coming into this clash off the back of an outstanding result, and we believe Blues will have enough to maintain their unbeaten record in the Championship for another week.


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