It’s that time again. After a full week without a game Bristol City return to action tomorrow when they face Wolves at Ashton Gate.
The Robins head into Saturday lunchtime’s game full of optimism after a festive period that saw them claim 10 points from a possible 12 available. While that will stand them in good stead against Vitor Pereira’s side, league form counts for very little in the FA Cup.
Wolves may not have had the best of starts in the Premier League, but they have shown signs of improvement since Pereira replaced former Robin Gary O’Neil in the Molineux dugout. As a top-flight club, they come into this one as favourites.
For the first time in a while, it seems as though Liam Manning will have some returning faces to call upon, with the Reds’ head coach confirming Kal Naismith and Mark Sykes are both in contention for the first time since November. However, the Robins could be without Rob Dickie who has been an ever-present, when fit, since making the move to Ashton Gate from QPR.
Of course, it is hard to know exactly what sort of side City will name, particularly now that they’re in the race for the play-off positions. Will Manning take the chance to rest one or two players? Or will he go as strong as possible to try and cause an upset?
We won’t know until about 11am on Saturday. Until then, here’s how we think Bristol City will line up against Wolves this weekend…
Goalkeeper and defence
Stefan Bajic was given a very rare start when City met Coventry City in the Carabao Cup at the start of the season. While Manning may opt to give him another run out between the posts this time around, we would expect Max O’Leary to be given the nod instead.
Ahead of him, it seems as though the Robins may be forced to reshuffle their pack in defence with Dickie a doubt. The centre-back has been struggling with an illness since the Reds’ win over Derby and it would make sense for him to be given a much-needed break now that the busy festive schedule is out of the way.
Even without Dickie, our bet is that Manning will stick with a back three given the formation has served him so well in recent weeks and Haydon Roberts will drop a bit deeper into the left centre-back position in that defensive unit.
Whether it will be Zak Vyner or Luke McNally who starts in the middle of the three remains to be seen, but the expectation is that both players will start after Manning admitted that City would have to ease Naismith back in after an extended period on the sidelines.
George Tanner could start in a deeper role as he has done in the past, but we don’t think that will happen this weekend for reasons that we will explain later on.
Midfield
The reason we don’t think Tanner will start at right centre-back is because we suspect he will be given the nod over Ross McCrorie at right wing-back. Tanner offers a more defensive presence which could be required against Wolves’ attacking talent and will allow the Robins to shift to a back four on the fly if Roberts isn’t able to get to grips in his new role.
Of course, there is a chance both Tanner and McCrorie could start, with the latter in a more advanced role than the former. However, Manning has managed both right-back’s minutes while they’ve been returning from injury and if they both feature from the off, the likelihood is that at least one of them will have to play the full 90. It isn’t yet clear if either player is capable of that at this stage.
At left-wing back, we’ve gone slightly rogue and suggested Elijah Morrison could be handed his first start in Bristol City colours. The teenager impressed off the bench against both Leeds United and Sheffield United and has had to wait patiently for his next chance. With Cam Pring sidelined and Roberts in a deeper position, this could well be his opportunity to show what he can do on the left flank.
In the middle of the park, we do think Manning will take the chance to rest one of Max Bird or Jason Knight, but probably not who you expect. Our bet is Marcus McGuane will start alongside Knight to offer a bit more defensive steel.
Knight could probably do with the break, but he has shown that he is more than capable of playing game after game, after game. Bird was excellent over the Christmas period and could probably do with the rest after such an intense couple of weeks.
Attack and striker
Now this is where this team becomes even harder to predict. Manning will of course not want to push his squad too far, but he made it clear in his pre-match press conference that it could be just as damaging for people to go two weeks without a game. On top of that, the Reds head coach likes winning football matches and will of course pick a team to do exactly that.
Because of that, we predict that the 39-year-old will stand by the two number 10s that have served him well so far this season, Anis Mehmeti and Scott Twine. The two players are probably playing the best football of their City careers at the moment and while Manning won’t want to risk them picking up injuries at this stage of the season, their quality in the final third could well prove to be key when unlocking Wolves’ backline.
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However, there is every chance we could be completely wrong and he may instead rest both players and save them for the return to Championship action. If Yu Hirakawa and George Earthy instead start in attacking midfield, it wouldn’t come as a total shock. This is the headache Manning has to deal with and it’s a good one to have.
Up front, our prediction is that Nahki Wells will continue to lead the line. The Robins managed the 34-year-old’s minutes brilliantly over the festive period and that should mean that he has more than enough left in the tank for another start against Premier League opposition.
Fally Mayulu could get the nod if Manning feels the Frenchman needs another runout after a difficult few weeks, but Wells’ experience and nouse in a game that could have limited chances in it may be vital.
Bristol City XI vs Wolves (3-4-2-1): Max O’Leary; Haydon Roberts, Luke McNally, Zak Vyner; Elijah Morrison, Marcus McGuane, Jason Knight, George Tanner; Anis Mehmeti, Scott Twine; Nahki Wells