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Swansea impressing defensively
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Bristol City's worries on the road
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Twine to hit the target at evens
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Swansea v Bristol City
Sunday September 29, 15:00
Live on Sky Sports
Swansea eyeing up the top-six
Swansea head coach Luke Williams suggested it would be "silly" to say the Swans can compete at the "very peak" of the Championship because of the lack of experience in his squad but the Welsh club begin the weekend sitting seventh in the early-season standings (W3-D1-L2) following back-to-back league victories over Coventry and Norwich.
Williams' outfit were rewarded for a quick start at Coventry, taking the lead through Liam Cullen's opportunistic finish, before Oli Cooper doubled the advantage in a match effected by bad weather. Swansea were able to recall Josh Tymon for veteran Kyle Naughton in their only change and the Swans boss was delighted by his side's industry and overall efforts.
Speaking post-match, Williams said: "It's very satisfying to get our first away win of the season - for the first 45 minutes we were very good and to do that away from home is really encouraging. When the players went off (for the weather delay) there was a lot of anxiety, but the players managed to re-focus themselves and get the job done."
Bristol City return to winning ways
Bristol City came from behind to beat Oxford at Ashton Gate last week to pick up their first win in four Championship matches. The U's went into the break with a one-goal advantage, however, Sinclair Armstrong levelled the scores 12 minutes into the second half and Nahki Wells netted from the penalty spot to wrap up a welcome three points for the Robins.
City boss Liam Manning felt his side were deserving of top honours and praised his players post-match, saying: "We were frustrated to come in at half-time a goal down, we created some really good chances and played some good stuff. Second half we went after it and showed some moments of real high quality, I'm delighted for the lads and the fans."
Manning made three changes to his team at Oxford and may again shuffle his pack for Sunday's derby date. Yu Hirakawa is pushing for a start after a couple of eye-catching cameos off the bench, whilst the Robins have been given a welcome boost as Ross McCrorie, Rob Atkinson and Adam Murphy close in on returns from injury.
Bristol City did the double over Swansea last season but historic meetings between the pair have been well balanced. However, the Robins still hold a marginally superior advantage over the past 12 years of action (W7-D7-L5), whilst head-to-heads in Swansea during the same period have returned an even W4-D2-L4 between the two regional rivals.
Swansea 2.466/4 have made a solid start to the campaign, especially at home, where Luke Williams' team remain unbeaten (W2-D1-L0). The Swans have overachieved according to the data, though they've impressed defensively, giving up just four Championship goals thus far, a record only bettered in the division by heavyweights West Brom and Sheffield United.
Bristol City 3.1085/40 sit in mid-table following their W2-D2-L2 start. The Robins have failed to fire on their travels (W0-D1-L2), already incurring two 3-0 defeats in that sequence, extending a poor run on the road under Liam Manning (W3-D7-L9). The guests are therefore best left alone at the lines and prices despite their positive record against Swansea.
Despite their poor road record, Bristol City haven't been shy in forward areas when playing away. The Robins have fired in 36 shots across their three road trips thus far - the fifth-most at this early stage of the season - and I'm keen to take the 1/12.00 money offering that attacking midfielder Scott Twine has 1 Or More Shots On Target in Sunday's showdown.
Back Scott Twine to have 1 or more Shots on-Target
Twine has landed the bounty in four of his five Championship appearances this term, averaging 1.02 shots on-target per-90. Since signing for Bristol City, the long-range specialist has paid-out in this market in 10 of 13 outings of 25 minutes or more for the Robins with a very impressive 0.98 shots on-target per-90 record, suggesting the 1/12.00 is too big to ignore.