PREVIEW | Bristol City vs Watford - team news, lineups, predictions

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·3. April 2025

PREVIEW | Bristol City vs Watford - team news, lineups, predictions

Bristol City and Watford clash this Saturday at Ashton Gate in Matchweek 40 of the EFL Championship.

The Robins became the latest in the long string of teams to fail to score against Burnley this season, as they lost 1-0 to the Clarets last time out. Liam Manning's team therefore remain on 57 points and they lie just outside the play-off places in 8th position.

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Watford, meanwhile, are four points back from their hosts in 9th position in the table. Last time out, Tom Cleverley's Hornets underwhelmed in a 0-0 stalemate against Plymouth Argyle.

The Hertfordshire club hold the edge between these two teams this season, however, having won the reverse fixture 1-0 earlier in the campaign.

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Ben Mead (Bristol City contributor): Seven games to go and the Red's return to Ashton Gate for two massive games in quick succession. Coming off the back of a disappointing, but deserved loss away at Burnley last weekend, Liam Manning will be looking for a quick bounce back at home on Saturday as we take on Watford.

It was a poor showing up at Turf Moor with the Reds being very lucky to go into half-time at only 1-0. The second half was better, and we started to look a lot more in the game, however, cwe ouldn't quite break down a very impressive Burnley defence. Coming back to the Gate we'll be looking for a much better first half performance, and I expecting us to have more possession and take our time to break down Watford.

At this point in the season, we cannot afford to drop points in these games. Especially with Coventry, West Brom and Middlesbrough all having tougher games this game week as well. Watford will be no pushovers, though, and we'll need to be up for it to get a result on Saturday.

Prediction: 2-1

Tom (Golden Pages Fanzine):

A disappointing goalless draw at home to basement boys Plymouth last time out raised further concern amongst the Watford faithful. At the heart of the disappointment was the Golden Boys' inability to score against a side soon to be relegated. Perversely, the Hornets are closer to the 'Top Six' now than before the Plymouth draw.

The return to contention of attacker Mamadou Doumbia and the improving fitness of Kwadwo Baah can't come soon enough though. Next up, a trip to Bristol to take on the high-flying Robins who have their own designs on promotion. Watford's last four visits to Ashton Gate have all produced draws. I suspect that this tie will be another tightly contested affair with a single moment dictating the outcome.

Prediction: 1-0