Nigel Pearson will take charge of his first game as Bristol City manager on Saturday, when his side travel to the Liberty Stadium to take on Swansea City.
The new manager watched from the stands as the Robins beat Middlesbrough 3-1 away from home on Tuesday, while Swansea also recorded a win in the week, defeating Coventry 1-0 at home.
Match preview
© Reuters
The Swans got back to winning ways last time out, when centre-back Ben Cabango netted the only goal of the game to see them defeat strugglers Coventry City.
That followed a very disappointing result for Steve Cooper's side as they fell to a 4-1 defeat away at Huddersfield Town, with Conor Hourihane equalising for the Swans after a Fraizer Campbell opener, before a goal from Lewis O'Brien and a Duane Holmes brace put the match out of sight.
That loss saw them fall out of the top three of the Championship table, largely due to the strong form of Watford, who leapfrogged the Swans.
However, the side from South Wales do remain in a strong position in the league, sitting just one point behind Watford and second-placed Brentford with two games in hand, meaning they could quickly jump into the automatic promotion spots if they win those games.
Steve Cooper's men can attribute a lot of this season's success to their strong defensive line, with no side in the Championship conceding as few as the 19 goals they have shipped from 30 matches this campaign, even considering the recent 4-1 loss.
However, that resilient defence could come under pressure on Saturday, as they welcome a Bristol City side with some newly-found confidence.
© Reuters
The Robins secured a crucial win last time out as assistant head coaches Keith Downing and Paul Simpson led them to a victory at the Riverside.
A Famara Diedhiou brace followed by a Nahki Wells finish put them three goals ahead in the first half, before Dael Fry scored a late consolation goal for Middlesbrough.
That win ended a run of seven consecutive losses in all competitions for the Robins, which saw Dean Holden dismissed from his role as manager.
The experienced Pearson will now be tasked with lifting the club back up the Championship table, as they look to close the gap between themselves and the playoff places, which currently stands at seven points.
Swansea City Championship form: DWWWLW
Swansea City form (all competitions): WWLWLW
Bristol City Championship form: LLLLLW
Bristol City form (all competitions): LLLLLW
Team News
© Reuters
Swansea will be without exciting winger Jordan Morris, who ruptured a ligament soon after his January loan move from Seattle Sounders.
He is joined on the sidelines by fellow attacking players Wayne Routledge and Liam Cullen.
Conor Hourihane has had a real impact on the Swans since his arrival on loan from Aston Villa in January, and the Irish midfielder is expected to feature prominently again in this game.
He will be joined in the middle by captain Matt Grimes, while the third midfield spot could be up for contention between Jay Fulton and Yan Dhanda, after Dhanda came in for the last game against Coventry, likely due to his greater attacking threat.
Meanwhile, the familiar back three of Marc Guehi, Ben Cabango and Kyle Naughton should feature again, having formed the league's tightest defence this season, with the help of goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.
Meanwhile, we are yet to see how Pearson will set up with his new team.
Famara Diedhiou and Nahki Wells are expected to continue their partnership in attack, after both impressed in the victory over Middlesbrough.
They will still be without the attacking option of Andreas Weimann though, as he remains out with a ligament rupture.
Han-Noah Massengo and Antoine Semenyo will both be looking for starting spots having been on the bench for the win over Middlesbrough, with the pair both playing important roles in the Robins' season so far.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Woodman; Guehi, Cabango, Naughton; Roberts, Grimes, Fulton, Hourihane, Bidwell; Lowe, Ayew
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Vyner, Mariappa, Kalas; Hunt, Massengo, Bakinson, Nagy, Towler; Diedhiou, Wells
We say: Swansea City 1-1 Bristol City
With Bristol City bound to have some newly-found confidence, as is so often the case with a new manager, we can see them proving a very tough test for Swansea in this game.
Their dangerous attack will be a good match for the Swans' defensive line, while Hourihane could continue his good run of scoring at the other end, seeing the sides share the points at the Liberty Stadium.
Top tip
Sam Varley
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 Swansea City win with a probability of 51.43%. A draw had a probability of 27.6% and a win for Bristol City had a probability of 21%.
The most likely scoreline for a Swansea City win was 1-0 with a probability of 15.87%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (11.04%) and 2-1 (8.61%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.37%), while for a Bristol City win it was 0-1 (8.89%). The actual scoreline of 1-3 was predicted with a 1.3% likelihood.
