Swansea City and Bristol City will lock horns in an FA Cup third-round replay on Tuesday night, with the two sides bidding to reach the fourth round of the competition.
Joel Piroe sent Swansea ahead in the 15th minute of their contest last weekend, before Antoine Semenyo struck a 75th-minute leveller to force a replay, with the two Championship outfits meeting once again.
Match preview
© Reuters
Swansea, as mentioned, managed to take a 15th-minute lead in Bristol last weekend, with Piroe finding the back of the net, but the Welsh outfit could not build on the early advantage, with Semenyo levelling late on.
Russell Martin's side will enter this match off the back of an impressive 3-1 victory at Sunderland in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Piroe was again on the scoresheet at the Stadium of Light before Daniel Neil levelled, but the Welsh team then scored twice more late on through Liam Cullen and Oliver Cooper to secure all three points.
Swansea are currently 11th in the Championship table, just three points behind sixth-placed West Bromwich Albion, and it does appear that it will be a fascinating battle for promotion this term.
Indeed, there are currently only four points separating 14th-placed Reading from West Brom, so Martin's team are very much in the playoff position at this stage of the campaign.
© Reuters
Bristol City, meanwhile, were also involved in a high-scoring Championship match on Saturday afternoon, recording a 4-2 victory over Birmingham City at Ashton Gate.
Mark Sykes scored twice during a strong performance from the home side, and the result moved them into 17th position in the table, now six points clear of the relegation zone.
The Robins, who finished 17th in the Championship last season, have never won the FA Cup, but they famously reached the final of the 1908-09 competition, losing 1-0 to Manchester United.
Nigel Pearson's side will bring a four-game unbeaten run into this match, including draws against Millwall and Coventry City in the Championship.
Bristol City have not managed to win an FA Cup match since January 2021, though, losing two of their last three in the competition against Sheffield United and Fulham.
The Robins drew 1-1 with Swansea in the Championship at the end of October, but they lost 3-1 to the Swans on their last visit to Wales in February 2022.
Team News
© Reuters
Swansea will again be missing Liam Walsh on Tuesday due to an Achilles injury, but the home side did not pick up any fresh fitness problems in their win over Sunderland on Saturday.
The starting side is expected to be similar to the one that took to the field for the Black Cats, but Nathan Wood-Gordon is expected to come into the side in the middle of the defence.
Piroe has been in excellent form for Swansea this season, scoring 10 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions, and the 23-year-old will again feature in the final third of the field.
Bristol City, meanwhile, will be without the services of Tommy Conway, Andreas Weimann, Ayman Benarous and Tomas Kalas due to injuries.
The away side did not pick up any fresh fitness problems on Saturday, though, with the three changes that occurred all tactical decisions rather than enforced substitutions.
Sykes, fresh from his brace against Birmingham, should again feature in the final third of the field, while there are also likely to be spots in the XI for Semenyo and Nahki Wells.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Benda; Latibeaudiere, Wood-Gordon, Cabango, Manning; Grimes, Allen; Cooper, Fulton, Cullen; Piroe
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
O'Leary; Vyner, Atkinson, Naismith; Tanner, James, Scott, Pring; Sykes; Wells, Semenyo
We say: Swansea City 1-0 Bristol City
Both teams will enter this match off the back of impressive Championship wins, and we are expecting Tuesday's contest to be a close affair. It would certainly not be a shock to see Bristol City triumph, but we have a feeling that Swansea will be able to navigate their way to a victory here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
