Bristol City will welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Ashton Gate on Sunday lunchtime, as both sides aiming for their first victory since the resumption of the 2019/20 season. With the Championship play-off picture looking very congested, the Robins, in particular, will be desperate to claim all three points.
Championship play-off hopefuls Bristol City host Sheffield Wednesday
A Clash Between Two out-of-form Teams
Last Saturday, Bristol City lost 3-1 to fellow top-six hopefuls Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, despite taking the lead in the first half through Jamie Paterson. The defeat in Lancashire left Lee Johnson’s side sitting on 55 points and loitering in the middle of the play-off chasing pack with eight matches to go. The Robins are now winless in their last six league games.
Meanwhile, Wednesday drew 1-1 against fifth-placed Nottingham Forest in their first game since the restart, with loan striker Connor Wickham netting a 93rd-minute equaliser at Hillsborough. Garry Monk’s men were without top scorer Steven Fletcher for the visit of Forest, and earlier this week it was revealed that the Scottish striker will be leaving the South Yorkshire club on June 30, after rejecting an extension to his contract. Fernando Forestieri and Morgan Fox are also set to depart having declined new deals.
When these two teams met back in December, the Owls were narrow 1-0 victors after experienced midfielder Barry Bannan netted the only goal from the spot with five minutes of normal time left.
Team News
Bristol City are set to be without Portuguese right-back Pedro Pereira for the next four weeks after the 22-year-old suffered an injury to his thigh in the defeat to Blackburn. However, there is some positive news for the Robins, as Adam Nagy and Andreas Weimann are back in contention for this weekend’s fixture.
As for the Owls, the only player who is likely to miss out through injury is Josh Windass, after he missed the game against Forest due to a thigh problem. The contracts of Fletcher, Forestieri and Fox do not expire until after this game has taken place, but they are not expected to make the journey to the South West, meaning that Wednesday’s options are slightly depleted.
Prediction
If Bristol City are serious about finishing in the play-offs then this is a fixture that they probably have to win, as they face a team who have collected just two points from their last five games on the road. The return of Weimann could be important, but the Robins will need to be better defensively, having not kept a clean sheet in any of their last eight matches. However, Wednesday might struggle without the influence of their leading marksman.
Prediction: Bristol City 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
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