EFL pundit’s delivers brutal prediction ahead of Bristol City’s clash with West Brom

Bristol City go into their match against West Brom at The Hawthorns tonight as unfancied, despite the opposition’s lack of manager.

The Robins and the Baggies had a contrast in fortunes in their results on the weekend. City suffered a 2-1 defeat to Millwall at Ashton Gate, handing them their first away win of the campaign. West Brom meanwhile won 2-0 against Reading, in what was just their second league win of the campaign.

West Brom are currently without a manager after Steve Bruce was dismissed following their poor start to the season. Richard Beale is in caretaker charge after stepping up from his role as head coach of their Under-21’s.

Bruce’s departure from the Midlands club made Nigel Pearson, 59, the oldest manager in the division. The former Leicester City manager is also the fifth longest serving coach in the Championship.

Tonight’s match sees City without Kal Naismith and Kane Wilson, whilst West Brom have some injury problems of their own with three players definitely ruled out. French pair Han-Noah Massengo and Stefan Bajic both featured in City’s Under-21’s squad to face QPR which would likely rule them out for tonight.

Those outside the club see a West Brom side in need of a victory to get their season up-and-running whilst inconsistency has crept back into the City team, who had started the season so brightly.

Ex-Nottingham Forest and Leeds United midfielder David Prutton these days works as a presenter and fronts up Sky Sports’ coverage of the English Football League. Tonight’s match is available to watch on the Red Button or on Robins TV, at the cost of £9.99.

Prutton has a weekly column with Sky Sports in which he predicts the match result and outcome of all Championship matches. He predicted last week that Millwall would win 2-0 at Ashton Gate and whilst the scoreline was off he was right with the result.

For tonight’s match, he has not spoken positively about City’s prospects against West Brom. Pearson’s side have lost three consecutive matches on the road.

Prutton said: “Bristol City are sliding down the league after just one win in seven, picking up just four points in that time. It’s hard to see them getting anything at The Hawthorns.”

His score prediction is a 2-0 win for West Brom, which would see the 20th-placed side move to within a point of Pearson’s men, who could drop as low as 19th after the latest round of fixtures.