Preview: Blackburn Rovers vs. Bristol City - prediction, team news, lineups

The visitors make the trip having won three of their last four league outings, while their hosts returned to winning ways last time out after a dip in form.

Match preview

Following Jon Dahl Tomasson's appointment as manager over the summer, Blackburn have already experienced a mixed run of form, having started quickly with back-to-back wins over Queens Park Rangers and Swansea City.

The Lancashire outfit then made it three victories from three league games with a hard-fought 2-1 beating of West Bromwich Albion, courtesy of goals from Ben Brereton Diaz and Sam Gallagher, but they were unable to stretch their perfect record any further, losing 3-0 away at Reading in the following encounter.

Rovers' trip to Sheffield United then ended in a defeat by the same scoreline, and, after an EFL Cup second-round win away at Bradford City, their slump in the league continued last weekend as Lewis Baker's goal made the difference in a 1-0 loss at home to Stoke City.

Hoping to bounce back from their tough run and establish consistency in England's second tier, Tomasson's side travelled to Blackpool on Wednesday, and they were able to make a return to winning ways as Brereton Diaz netted the only goal in a 1-0 away victory, securing a fourth three-point haul of the campaign.

Having now put themselves back in the leading pack with that win, moving on to 12 points from seven outings, Blackburn will hope to build another winning run starting on Saturday but face a tough test against a confident Brostol City side.

The visitors' start to the league campaign has been somewhat contrasting with that of their hosts, as they began with consecutive defeats to Hull City and Sunderland before only being able to draw away at Wigan Athletic as Andreas Weimann's early opener was cancelled out.

Sitting on just a single point from three Championship outings, the Robins were then able to put an important first win on the board at home to Luton Town, as Nakhi Wells and Tommy Conway netted goals in the first 30 minutes before they headed into a Severnside Derby against Cardiff City at Ashton Gate.

Nigel Pearson's men would win by the same scoreline in that contest, with Conway again on the scoresheet alongside Rob Atkinson as they got one over on their rivals and quickly moved onto seven points from five games.

The Robins were then left disappointed by a 3-3 draw away at Blackpool, as Theo Corbeanu drew their hosts level in the 90th minute after Pearson's side moved into a lead through Conway, Antoine Semenyo and Marvin Ekpiteta, but it did not take them long to bounce back, recording a 2-0 home win over Huddersfield Town on Wednesday as Wells opened the scoring and Semenyo sealed the points in the 80th minute.

While all their wins have come at home thus far, Bristol City will travel north with plenty of confidence given their recent improvement and will aim to translate that Ashton Gate form into Saturday's contest.

Blackburn Rovers Championship form:

Blackburn Rovers form (all competitions):

Bristol City Championship form:

Bristol City form (all competitions):

Team News

Blackburn Rovers will likely remain without full-back Callum Brittain and winger Sammie Szmodics due to injuries, and Tomasson has far more options to replace the latter, with Lewis Travis again likely to deputise on the right-hand side of the back four in Brittain's absence.

Having successfully fended off interest in the transfer window, they will again be able to deploy attacker Ben Brereton Diaz, who has already found the net three times in the league this season after scoring 22 goals in 37 Championship appearances last time around.

Competition may be limited in attack, in the anticipated continued absence of front man Sam Gallagher, with Bradley Dack, Tyrhys Dolan and Ryan Hedges all set to keep their places around Brereton Diaz, while John Buckley will hope to come back into the midfield in place of either Adam Wharton or Tyler Morton.

Bristol City are unlikely to make many changes for Saturday's game, particularly in attack, with the front three of Andreas Weimann, Nakhi Wells and Tommy Conway set to cause major problems, having already scored a combined tally of eight goals this term.

Weimann, who notched up 22 goals and 10 assists on his own in the league last term, will likely play just behind the pair of Wells and Conway in a 3-4-1-2 setup, with Matty James set to join 19-year-old Alex Scott in the midfield.

Further back, summer signing Kal Naismith will continue to command the back three in front of goalkeeper Daniel Bentley, likely alongside Zak Vyner and Rob Atkinson.

Blackburn Rovers possible starting lineup:

Kaminski; Travis, Ayala, Hyam, Pickering; Morton, Buckley; Hedges, Dack, Brereton Diaz; Dolan

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

Bentley; Vyner, Naismith, Atkinson; Sykes, James, Scott, Dasilva; Weimann; Conway, Wells

We say: Blackburn Rovers 1-1 Bristol City

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