Bristol City welcome Sheffield Wednesday to Ashton Gate on Sunday afternoon having won both of their opening two games in the Championship.
While the visitors sit bottom of the table due to their points deduction, they head into their next fixture with a victory and a draw to their name.
Match preview
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On the back of four successive wins, Bristol City would have been confident of causing an upset against Aston Villa in the EFL Cup third round on Thursday evening.
However, two early goals took the tie away from the Robins, who eventually succumbed to a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Premier League outfit.
Although Dean Holden may be relieved to be able to focus on league matters, the manner of the setback provides him with a job to do in terms of ensuring that his players do not lose belief in their abilities.
Bristol City had been hugely impressive four days earlier, netting goals at the end of each half to overcome Stoke City on away territory.
That result leaves the club as one of just three teams who still possess a 100% record in the second tier, something which Holden will be desperate to extend for as long as possible.
From Wednesday's perspective, this game will be viewed as another opportunity to eat into the deficit which was handed to them before the start of the campaign.
With five teams still yet to get off the mark, a 12-point gap has been reduced to eight points courtesy of a win at Cardiff City and goalless draw at home to Watford.
Like their hosts, Wednesday suffered a comprehensive defeat in the EFL Cup, losing out by a 2-0 scoreline at Fulham, but Garry Monk did select a much-changed starting lineup for the contest at Craven Cottage.
Nevertheless, the Owls boss will not want losing to become a habit, putting the pressure on his first-choice players to keep the club on track in the Championship.
Bristol City Championship form: WW
Bristol City form (all competitions): WWWWL
Sheffield Wednesday Championship form: WD
Sheffield Wednesday form (all competitions): DWWDL
Team News
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Wednesday manager Monk has suggested that Alex Hunt should be back in contention for Sunday's encounter.
Monk also hopes to have Korede Adedoyin available for selection after a hold-up with the youngster's paperwork.
Despite stepping up his recovery from injury, Joe Williams will likely have to remain patient as he waits for his Bristol City debut.
Chris Martin and Nahki Wells are expected to return in attack, but Tomas Kalas faces an extended spell on the sidelines with a shoulder problem.
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Vyner, Moore, Mawson; Hunt, Paterson, Weimann, Nagy, Rowe; Martin, Wells
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Dawson; Aken, Lees, Iorfa; Harris, Bannan, Luongo, Palmer; Brown; Windass, Rhodes
We say: Bristol City 1-1 Sheffield Wednesday
Coming off the back of defeats in the EFL Cup, it remains to be seen how these two teams will react. With both clubs probably being content with avoiding defeat to maintain their strong start, we would not be surprised if this fixture ends in a low-scoring draw.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:curlData 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 Bristol City win with a probability of 38.75%. A win for Sheffield Wednesday had a probability of 35.25% and a draw had a probability of 26%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bristol City win was 1-0 with a probability of 9.54%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-1 (8.46%) and 2-0 (6.53%). The likeliest Sheffield Wednesday win was 0-1 (9.01%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.34%). The actual scoreline of 2-0 was predicted with a 6.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Bristol City would win this match.
