Preview

Data Analysis

 

Sports Mole previews Thursday's Championship clash between Bristol City and Luton Town, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Bristol City will look to end a four-game winless run when they welcome Luton Town to Ashton Gate on Boxing Day.

The Robins are in 12th place in the Championship table, while the Hatters are just two points further back in 15th position.

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Match preview

Bristol City are still searching for their first win in December after taking just two points from their four matches since beating Plymouth Argyle at the end of November.

The Robins fell to a heavy 3-0 defeat against Portsmouth, before they recorded consecutive 1-1 draws against Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers.

They then failed to take anything from Sunday's away clash against West Bromwich Albion, losing 3-0 at the Hawthorns following Mikey Johnston's first-half brace.

Having taken 27 points from 22 league matches, Bristol City are sitting seven points adrift of the Championship playoffs and nine points above the relegation zone.

Bristol City will now turn their focus to back-to-back home games against Luton and Portsmouth, with the Robins looking to improve upon their recent record of just one win in seven games at Ashton Gate.

They have also won just one of their previous six games against Luton, although that sole victory came in their most recent home meeting in August 2022.

Luton will be in high spirits after they staged a late turnaround to snatch all three points in last Friday's home clash with Derby County.

Tom Holmes netted an 89th-minute equaliser to cancel out Kayden Jackson's opener, before Carlton Morris scored a stoppage-time winner to clinch a narrow 2-1 victory at Kenilworth Road.

That result represented their fourth win in the last five home matches (D1), moving them seven points clear of the drop zone ahead of Thursday's fixture.

Rather than avoiding relegation, Luton will still harbour hopes of mounting a playoff push after dropping down from the Premier League last season, with Rob Edwards' side needing to make up a 10-point gap to the top six.

If they are to close that gap, the Hatters will have to produce a significant improvement on the road, having taken just four points from their 10 away league matches this season.

Not only do they have the third-worst away record, but they have also lost each of their previous seven Championship away matches since they claimed a narrow 1-0 victory over Millwall on September 14.

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Team News

The hosts are expected to be without the services of Sinclair Armstrong, Joe Williams, Kal Naismith and Mark Sykes.

The Bristol City medical will have to assess Nakhi Wells after he sat out the recent defeat to West Brom with a minor injury issue.

Ross McCrorie and George Tanner are set to provide options off the bench after they returned from injury to feature in Sunday's matchday squad.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Teden Mengi and Amari'i Bell due to knee and hamstring injuries respectively.

The pair are also joined on the sidelines by Shandon Baptiste, Reece Burke, Reuell Walters and Alfie Doughty, while Liam Walsh will serve the second game of a four-match ban.

In positive news, Edwards has confirmed that Daiki Hashioka will return to the matchday squad after missing the win over Derby with a muscle problem.

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
O'Leary; Vyner, McNally, Dickie, Pring; Bird, McGuane; Mehmeti, Knight, Twine; Mayulu

Luton Town possible starting lineup:
Kaminski; Hashioka, McGuinness, Holmes; Moses, Krauss, Clark, Chong; Brown, Adebayo, Morris

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We say: Bristol City 2-2 Luton Town

While Luton have won four of their last five home matches, they have struggled to replicate that sort of form away from Kenilworth Road, and with that in mind, we think the Hatters will have to settle for a share of the spoils in their clash with a Bristol City side that have drawn four of their previous seven home matches.


For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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