Aiming to move into the playoff positions before the turn of the month, Swansea City will lock horns with rivals Bristol City for a Championship clash on Sunday afternoon at the Swansea.com Stadium.
The Swans have enjoyed back-to-back league wins ahead of this weekend's fixture, whilst the Robins recorded a narrow victory over a newly-promoted outfit last time out.
Match preview
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Held in high regard courtesy of his promotion-winning work at Notts County in the past, Luke Williams struggled to impress massively during the 2023-24 campaign in South Wales, but it now appears that the 42-year-old is beginning to mould his Swansea City side into his perception of a top team.
For the first time since April, the Swans have recorded successive Championship wins following the September international break, with Sunday's hosts securing a one-goal success over Norwich City at home on September 14 before earning a hard-fought three points at Coventry City last time out.
In a contest devoid of quality, Swansea and the Sky Blues battled it out for supremacy at a wet and windy CBS Arena, with first-half goals from Welsh duo Oliver Cooper and Liam Cullen enough to seal maximum points against Mark Robins's out-of-form Coventry troops.
Collecting six points from their last two second-tier matches, the Swans have moved up to seventh in the Championship table after six games of the season, sitting one point behind sixth-placed Leeds United and five points back from Sunderland, who currently occupy second.
Finding the net on just seven occasions so far this season, no team inside the top 11 of the division have scored fewer goals than Swansea to date, with the club's only recognised central striker, Zan Vipotnik, failing to cement a spot in the XI since his summer move from Bordeaux.
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Following back-to-back 3-0 defeats to Derby County and high-flying Blackburn Rovers either side of the international break, Bristol City returned to winning ways last Saturday at Ashton Gate, where newly-promoted Oxford United visited and left with their tails between their legs.
It looked as if the U's were on course for their maiden away win of the Championship season when midfielder Ruben Rodrigues opened the scoring in the first half, but the Robins managed to stage a second-period comeback, with Sinclair Armstrong and substitute Nahki Wells finding the net.
In true Bristol City fashion, Liam Manning's side are sitting in the middle of the second-tier standings, holding a modest total of eight points from their opening six league contests, with Sunday's visitors finishing between 11th and 19th in each of the last five seasons.
The Robins have only lost one of their last six matches against Swansea and managed the double over their Welsh counterparts during the 2023-24 campaign, with Sam Bell and Mark Sykes scoring the goals at the Swansea.com Stadium in September 2023.
Tasked with sharing the goalscoring burden this season, Fally Mayulu is one of watch for Bristol City this term, with the 22-year-old Frenchman netting twice in his opening three appearances for the Robins, although he did fail to make it off the bench in the win over Oxford last time out.
Team News
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Swansea have no fresh injury concerns ahead of this weekend's derby clash, although goalkeeper Andy Fisher remains sidelined due to a groin issue.
The Swans are also unable to call upon the talents of Josh Ginnelly, who is expected back next month from an Achilles tendon injury suffered last campaign.
A trio of Bristol City stars are stepping up their returns from injury, with Rob Atkinson, Ross McCrorie and Adam Murphy all featuring for the Under-21s earlier this week.
The Robins remain without the services of Ayman Benarous, who is struggling with his latest fitness setback but should return sometime next month.
George Earthy's loan spell at Ashton Gate has been blighted by injury so far, with the West Ham United youngster on the sidelines due to a bruised ankle.
Swansea City possible starting lineup:
Vigouroux; Key, Cabango, Darling, Tymon; Pereira, Franco, Grimes, Eom, Cullen; Cooper
Bristol City possible starting lineup:
O'Leary; Tanner, Vyner, McNally, Roberts; Williams, Knight, Mehmeti, Bird, Twine; Armstrong
We say: Swansea City 1-0 Bristol City
Collecting seven points from an available nine at their South Wales base so far this season, Swansea should be confident of earning the derby bragging rights this weekend.
Bristol City did well to stage a comeback and beat Oxford last time out, but we feel that the Robins' inconsistency could rear its ugly head once again at the Swansea.com Stadium.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
