Preview | Bristol City vs Wolves

1 | Roll Call

Vitor Pereira’s side will once again be without Matheus Cunha as the Brazilian serves the second game of his two-match suspension in Wolves’ visit to Ashton Gate this weekend. The head coach indicated he does not expect Nelson Semedo - or fellow defenders Craig Dawson and Toti - to be available for Saturday with the captain having picked up a hamstring injury which kept him out of the defeat to Forest on Monday evening. Pereira could be tempted to rotate his squad with one eye on the Premier League visit to Newcastle in midweek, while Andre could come back into the team after missing the last game having returned to Brazil for the birth of his second son.

Robins manager Liam Manning has confirmed Rob Dickie is a doubt for the FA Cup clash, with the defender suffering from illness following the win over Derby County last weekend, joining Sinclair Armstrong and Joe Williams on the sidelines. The team will also have to make do without Cam Pring, with the left-back expected to be out for the foreseeable future. However, the Reds are set to be boosted by the return of Kal Naismith and Mark Sykes, with neither player having featured since City’s defeat to Sheffield United in November, but Manning has stated both players are back in first-team contention.

2 | The Stat Pack

Goals

• Matheus Cunha | 10
• Anis Mehmeti | 9

Assists

• Rayan Ait-Nouri | 5
• Max Bird | 5

Biggest win

• Leicester 0-3 Wolves | December 2024
• Bristol City 0-4 Plymouth Argyle | November 2024

Cards

• Joao Gomes | 6
• Luke McNally | 5

Clean sheets

• Jose Sa | 3
• Max O’Leary | 8

3 | Journey to Saturday

Vitor Pereira’s win percentage as Wolves head coach took a hit earlier in the week as the Portuguese tasted defeat for the first time in his tenure as the Old Gold fell to former boss Nuno Espirito Santo and his Nottingham Forest side. Spirits were high heading into the game as Wolves had gone three games unbeaten under Pereira, including wins against Leicester City and Manchester United, before fighting back to claim a point away at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. But high-flying Forest – assisted by several key absences in the Wolves line-up – came out on top under the Molineux lights, as the hosts fell to a 3-0 loss, but still showed positive signs.

Both Wolves and Bristol City enter the competition at the third round stage but it won’t be the Robins’ first cup tie of the season, after falling to Coventry City in the first round of the Carabao Cup back in August. In the league and City are currently say just outside the Championship play-off spots with nine wins and 10 draws from their opening 26 outings, but since a 2-0 loss away at West Bromwich Albion just before Christmas, they have gone four games without defeat, including victories over Luton Town, Portsmouth and, most recently, Derby County, with Luke McNally scoring the only goal of the contest last weekend.

Straight to work 👊 pic.twitter.com/WkYQbzIhXA

— Wolves (@Wolves) January 10, 2025

4 | An FA Cup showdown with the Robins

Wolves’ route to the FA Cup semi-final back in 2019 came via a trip to Ashton Gate as the two teams battled in out in a fifth round tie that time. Ivan Cavaleiro was the man to fire the Old Gold into the quarter-finals as the Portuguese diverted home the only goal before the break, after fine work down the right by Matt Doherty. Chances were far from regular that afternoon, but Wolves certainly boasted the best of them, with Doherty rattling the woodwork himself after claiming an assist, while Morgan Gibbs-White passed up the best the chances after the break, being denied on the counter-attack, while John Ruddy made a series of routine saves on his way to a clean sheet.

Bristol City | Fielding, Dasilva, Webster, Wright, Brownhill, Diedhiou, O’Dowda, Eliasson (Taylor 46), Kalas, Morrell (Pack 46), Palmer (Paterson 66).

Wolves | Ruddy, Doherty (Neves 81), Bennett, Coady, Boly, Jonny, Saiss, Moutinho, Dendoncker, Cavaleiro (Gibbs-White 70), Jimenez (Traore 90).