The Robins travel to The Den on Saturday where they will face tough opposition, in the form of Millwall. The odds are in favour of a home victory and in the last five meetings between the two sides, Millwall have won 60% of them.
Millwall
The Lions faced Michael Carrick’s Middlesborough in round one, who are arguably one of the best teams in the division, and walked away with a 1-0 win, the perfect start for Gary Rowett and his side. Millwall only had 32% possession, but they were extremely efficient when they did have the ball and if it wasn’t for a lack of composure in front of goal, they could have put the ball in the net a few more times. When out of possession, the side still controlled the game and limited the hosts to two shots on target. 18-year-old super sub Romain Esse was the match winner, scoring the only goal of the game in the 79th minute but captain, Shaun Hutchinson should receive praise as he had a stellar performance at the back.
Going into the game versus Bristol City, you would expect the morale to be high. However, the Lions suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat to League One side, Reading, in the EFL Cup, which may dampen the pre-match mood. Rowett will want to use that shock defeat as a learning curve and I doubt we will see the same level of complacency this weekend. Star player, Zian Flemming, has an important role to play, as he will have a huge influence on Millwall’s attacking threat.
Bristol City
The Robins played at home in round one, drawing 1-1 against a Preston North End side who probably deserved to win the game. It is important to start quickly at the beginning of a new campaign, however only one shot occurred in the entire first half of the match, which indicates a clear lack of playing patterns and attacking intent. The first 45 minutes also saw the Nigel Pearson lose his captain, Andreas Weimann, to injury which is a huge blow to the side. Two minutes after the interval, Sam Bell opened the scoring for Bristol City, but they were unable to hold onto all three points as they conceded a late goal to Will Keane.
A key player for the travelling side this weekend will be new signing Jason Knight, who performed extremely well in the 5-1 thrashing of Oxford United in the EFL Cup. The Irish midfielder scored twice and registered an assist, before being subbed off around the 60th minute mark. It is expected that Bristol City will have to endure plenty of time without the ball and defend their penalty box with determination, which is especially important as Millwall will look to utilise set pieces. There is no doubt that Nigel Pearson will have created a plan to get a result, but it is down to the players to perform on the pitch at an incredibly difficult ground.
Verdict?
Millwall showed their defensive ability last weekend, but it is unknown how they will perform when they are the favourites and have to take the game to the opponent. Bristol City will prefer to sit in deep and wait for their moments which will lead to an exciting encounter.
The final prediction is Millwall 2-0 Bristol City.
