As England basks itself in the joys of the festive period, the FA brings to the country another delicious heavyweight clash for the football fans to enjoy. This time the two teams clashing are Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bristol City. The two teams are currently placed first and second in the Championships with the Wolves commanding a solid eight-point lead over Bristol City.
With 55 points from after 24 game weeks, the team from Molineux Stadium will enter the New Year at the summit of the table, irrespective of the result of the match. Wolves will be buoyed by the fact that the last 12 teams to enter the New Year at the top, have all gone on to secure automatic promotion.
As for Bristol City, they will be hoping to use their home advantage to collect all three points and cut the gap at the top further down after having recently climbed up to second place. They are in excellent form having collected a total of 16 points from a possible 18. They are also yet to lose to drop any points against Wolves at home since gaining promotion in 2015.
However, Wolves will not be short on confidence having been the most successful side on the road this season in the Championships. They have collected 26 points from their 12 games on the road. What they will be worried about is the fact that they have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last ten games against the Robins.
With so many numerical facts and figures to be wary of, Wolves will have to produce a fine display come the weekend if they are to keep the surging Bristol City at bay. Here is how they will look to line up for the high tempo clash.
Formation: 3-4-3
Defence
John Ruddy can be expected in goal for the match. The defensive three is likely to consist of on-loan player Willy Boly, Ryan Bennett and Conor Coady.
Midfield
A midfield quartet of Matt Doherty, Barry Douglas, Saiss and Ruben Neves can be expected to fill up the middle of the park for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Attack
Top scorer Ivan Bonatini who already has 12 goals this season and was rested for the first half of the Boxing Day clash against Millwall will be restored to the line-up. He will be supported by star performer Diogo Jota who also has entered the double digits for the season with 10 goals to his kitty. Helder Costa is expected to be the third attacker on the night.
