BRISTOL CITY v MILLWALL – Pick: 1 AH0 – 03 January 2012

Robins could leapfrog Lions in relegation battle

Elliott (Bristol) - Olsson (Albion)
Elliott (Bristol) - Olsson (Albion) © GEPA pictures

Championship

Tuesday 3rd January 2012 – Kickoff:  1945hrs

It’s a potential six-pointer  that I look at next as 21st placed Bristol City take on 20th placed Millwall at Ashton Gate on Tuesday night with both sides looking to pull away from the relegation dog-fight.

Bristol City, fresh from doing the ‘double’ over Championship leaders Southampton when they beat them at St Marys Stadium on Friday night 1-0 to secure an unlikely victory and inflict defeat on the leaders for the first time on home ground which is the biggest shock result in the Championship so far this season.

The Robins now have a three point over relegation rivals Nottingham Forest and could leapfrog both Millwall and Ipswich Town if they win by two clear goals on Tuesday night. But first things first, let’s take a closer look at City’s current form; their home record stands at  2-3-6  9/14, with those two wins coming recently over Burnley and Southampton, and since then they’ve lost to Middlesbrough (remember they have the second best away record in the Championship) and drew with Nottingham Forest 0-0.

Strikers Nicky Maynard (7 goals, 2 assists) and Albert Adomah (5 goals, 5 assists) have done the bulk of the damage so far, along with cameo performances from Brett Pitman (3 goals, 1 assist) and Marvin Elliott (2 goals) chipping in also. Former Birmingham and Leeds midfielder Neil Kilkenny has also provided 3 assists to date.

It’s a similar story for visitors Millwall as they’ve won just twice in their last six and just once away from home in their last eleven matches. Throw in the fact that they’ve failed to score in seven of those eleven away matches and you can see why their away record is a poor one;  1-3-7  7/17, and aside from Coventry City (6 goals), are the lowest goalscorers on the road in the Championship.

In fact, The Lions haven’t scored a goal away since the end of October when they beat Leicester City 3-0, so that’s four straight away matches without scoring and have suffered losses at Blackpool, Leeds United and Hull City as a result.

Striker and leading scorer Darius Henderson (9 goals, 3 assists) missed the last match against Crystal Palace but is expected to be fit in time for the visit to Bristol. Midfielder Liam Trotter (5 goals, 4 assists), Jay Simpson (4 goals, 2 assists) and Dany N’Guessan (1 goal, 1 assist) are the main other contributors.

This will be a tight one and I’m not expecting many goals, but recent wins home and away over the Championship leaders will do their confidence the world of good so I’ll back Bristol City with the round ball for insurance in case it’s a draw – City to win 1-0.

Main Pick:  Bristol City AH0 @ 1.63 Pinnacle – add it to your multi

Value Pick:  Bristol City straight win @ 2.27 Pinnacle

Final Score: 1:0