FA Cup | Third Round

Jan 11, 2025 at 12pm UK

Ashton Gate Stadium

Bristol City vs Wolves

Match preview

After 26 games in their 10th season in the Championship, Bristol City are eighth in the table. They've won nine, drawn 10 and lost seven, picking up 10 points across their last four matches.

The Robins didn't get all the points in their first game of 2025 after letting in a last-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw at Plymouth Argyle, but they bounced back last weekend with a narrow 1-0 home win over Derby County, with Luke McNally scoring the only goal.

Bristol City have now won four and drawn one of their last five matches at Ashton Gate, keeping four clean sheets in the process, and head coach Liam Manning wants his side to "keep building" their strong run of form on home turf.

The Robins go into Saturday's FA Cup tie having got through four of their last six third-round matches, winning both of their third-round ties against Premier League opponents in that time - beating both Huddersfield Town in 2019 and West Ham United last season 1-0.

But Bristol City haven't won their last three meetings with Wolves and have lost their last two home games in all competitions. They last lost more than two games in a row against Wolves between 1929 and 1965 (four).

Since Vitor Pereira became head coach, Wolves have won two, drawn one and lost one in four Premier League games. Most recently, they lost 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest on Monday.

Ex-Wolves midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White made things tough for his old club with an early goal, before Chris Wood and Taiwo Awoniyi added to the hosts' misery, making it their 12th league loss of the season. This leaves them just above the relegation zone, but only by goal difference.

Pereira, who says he's "proud" of his players for "trying everything" since he arrived, is sure to be thinking about the tricky Premier League games coming up, but his team now have a chance to get back to winning ways in the FA Cup, a competition that Wolves have won four times in their history - the last time was in 1960.

Wolves have had mixed success in the FA Cup recently, getting through the third round only five times in the last 10 years. They made it to the quarter-finals last season, but their cup run was ended by Championship opposition, losing a dramatic contest 3-2 at home to Coventry City.

But there's a silver lining for the Wolves: they've won both of their previous two FA Cup meetings with Bristol City, both by 1-0 scorelines. They haven't been eliminated by lower-league teams in consecutive seasons since 2012 (Birmingham City) and 2013 (Luton Town).

Recent Performance

Bristol City form (all competitions):DLWWDW

Wolverhampton Wanderers form (all competitions):LLWWDL

Team News

Bristol City will be without Cameron Pring, Sinclair Armstrong, Joe Williams and Ayman Benarous due to injury, while Rob Atkinson has left the club to join Portsmouth on loan.

Manning has confirmed that Rob Dickie is a doubt as he continues to recover from illness, but Kal Naismith and Mark Sykes have returned to training and are in contention to feature this weekend.

Manning might make a few tweaks to the line-up, but the likes of Anis Mehmeti (team-high nine goals this term), Scott Twine, Jason Knight and Zak Vyner might keep their places in the first XI.

As for Wolves, Matheus Cunha will serve the second of a two-match suspension, while Toti Gomes (hamstring), Sasa Kalajdzic, Yerson Mosquera, Boubacar Traore and Enso Gonzalez (all knee) are all sidelined with injuries.

Defensive duo Nelson Semedo (hamstring), Craig Dawson (calf) and midfielder Andre (knock) all missed the defeat to Forest with injuries and will be assessed ahead of kickoff.

Matt Doherty was in the Wolves side that beat Bristol City in their last meeting almost six years ago, and he could play either as a right-sided centre-back or at right wing-back, while it remains to be seen as to whether new January signing Emmanuel Agbadou - a £16.6m addition from Reims - will be involved.

Possible starting lineup

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

Bajic; Vyner, Dickie, McNally; Tanner, Knight, Bird, Roberts; Twine, Mehmeti; Bell

Wolverhampton Wanderers possible starting lineup:

Johnstone; Doherty, S. Bueno, Ait-Nouri; Lima, Lemina, J. Gomes, R. Gomes; Bellegarde, Sarabia; Hwang