Bristol City

Winless Oxford United head to unbeaten Bristol City on Sunday (15:00 BST) seeking to get their season started.

After losing their opening three Championship games of the season, Gary Rowett's men have responded with back-to-back 2-2 draws against Coventry and Leicester, though both came at home.

The Robins went into the weekend two points off the top after three wins and two draws in their opening five games and scored seven times in their past two fixtures against Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday.

• Bristol City are unbeaten in their last five league games against Oxford United (W2 D3) since losing 3-0 in October 1999.

• Oxford have lost one of their past eight away league visits to Bristol City (W2 D5) though that defeat was last season in a 2-1 defeat.

• Bristol City are enjoying their best start to a league season (11 points in 5 games) since winning 13 in their opening five games in 2020-21, though they went onto finish 19th that campaign.

• Oxford were unbeaten in their first nine league games under Gary Rowett but they've since won four of their past 21 matches (D6 L11). Since the date of this 21-game run (4 February), the only ever-present side to win fewer points than the U's (18) is Sheffield Wednesday (17).

• Bristol City's Anis Mehmeti has both scored and assisted in each of his last two Championship appearances – he had only achieved this once in his first 129 games in the competition beforehand.

Bristol City have taken "big belief" from their results so far, says head coach Gerhard Struber, as the club remain unbeaten in the Championship after five matches.

The Robins play Oxford United in their next match on Sunday, having beaten Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 away in their previous game.

City are averaging three goals per game going forward and have also conceded the second lowest amount in the division so far, with four.

"When you step out with clean sheets, when you step out with victories, it's always good for the confidence but also how we interpreted our identity, this is good to see and this gives everyone big belief," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

Struber said even after a comprehensive win against the Owls, his players were already looking at what more they could have done.

"We have leaders in the dressing room that all have high standards," he added.

"It must not always be the manager in front of the group saying something - they are also very good at reflecting and ready for more."

Struber added defender Rob Dickie is available to face the U's after going off at half-time last weekend.

Listen to more from Struber and Bristol City on BBC Sounds.

Image source, Rex Features

Reports of a Bristol City takeover by Saudi Arabian investors are "purely speculation", says Bristol Sport Group CEO and club director Gavin Marshall.

The Championship club have been linked this week to a takeover, external by Saudi boxing promoter Turki Alalshikh.

The news comes as WSL 2 side Bristol City Women have been sold by the Lansdown family to investment group Mercury13.

"It's just purely speculation. Since Steve's [Lansdown, owner] been open about looking for investment we've had a lot of speculation around different interested parties," Gavin Marshall told BBC Radio Bristol.

In May, Lansdown said the men's club were "not close" to a takeover or potential new investment having first declaration his intention to sell some, or all, of the club in 2021.

Any sale is complicated by the fact the club - as the women's side previously did - sits under the Bristol Sport umbrella, which also comprises Bristol Bears' men's and women's rugby teams and the Bristol Flyers basketball outfit.

Work on a new 'Sporting Quarter' near Ashton Gate Stadium is also set to begin later this year.

Marshall, however, said the sale was only about the women's WSL 2 side.

"This deal is about Bristol City Women, Steve's been open around looking for investment who can take the club forward hence this deal with Mercury13," Marshall added.

David Pottier
Fan writer

Image source, Rex Features

While this season is still in its infancy, the signs are that Bristol City coach Gerhard Struber is playing a brand of football that is in stark contrast to that served up by predecessor Liam Manning throughout most of his 18 months at the club.

Manning did get City to the play-offs with a tremendous run of home form since the turn of the year, but on the road they were a consistent disappointment for travelling fans with only two wins in the last six months leading up to the season's end.

In stark contrast, Struber has won two on the road from the five which make up the unbeaten sequence and City have scored three or more goals already compared with just achieving that four times over the whole of last season.

So just how good is the start to the season compared to years gone by?

This is City's 11th successive season in the Championship and their best start [first five games] since the lockdown season 2020-21 when they won the opening four and would have made it five had Callum O'Dowda not conceded a last minute penalty away at Barnsley.

That start probably saved City from relegation as the spring brought a six-game losing run which led to the sacking of Dean Holden and by the end of the season the drop was avoided by only seven points.

Going back further, only 2007-08 and 2014-15 match results this season of three wins and two draws.

The latter was in League One under Steve Cotterill and end up with promotion, the latter Championship with Gary Johnson at the helm, and compared with both, our goal difference is better this time around.

Roll the clock back 50 years to the 1975-76 season, which ended in promotion to the top flight, and the season began with two wins, two defeats and a draw so it really is too early to draw any conclusions.

When will that first defeat come? One would hope it won't be this weekend at home to Oxford on Sunday afternoon but then this is Bristol City who have an annoying habit of lifting your hopes only to dash them when form says they should not.

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Image source, Rex Features

Bristol City midfielder Anis Mehmeti said he could have scored "three or four" goals in Saturday's win against Sheffield Wednesday.

Mehmeti scored once and set up another goal in the 3-0 win but also rounded Owls keeper Ethan Horvath and saw the shot palmed away, found the side netting and hit the post in the second half.

The 24-year-old, who now has three goals this campaign, said his link-up play with Scott Twine and Emil Riis is only getting better.

"I probably could have had three or four [goals]. I know it seems mad to say but it's all abut relationships and creating those bonds together and me and Twiney and Emil have been doing that, so long may it continue," he told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We're unbeaten five games in and we've been terrific but I think we need to keep that going. We know the Championship is a long season and it's all about putting runs together. We're doing that now."

Betty Glover
BBC Final Score reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Bristol City look like they're going from strength to strength this season. You only have to look at their results to see how dangerous they are in front of goal.

They opened their campaign with a 4-1 win over Sheffield United, beat Hull 4-2 before the international break, and thrashed Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 this weekend to climb up to third.

Their front three link up well, but the player who really catches the eye is Anis Mehmeti.

The Albania international has now reached 100 Championship appearances for the club and is consistently the most exciting player on the pitch. He's at the heart of City's attacks and is electric down that left-hand side.

That was clear in their win over Sheffield Wednesday, where he scored one and assisted another, and he could have had more.

Bristol City are flying high - and so is Mehmeti's confidence. He's a player who has matured significantly over the past few months and could prove crucial to their campaign.

Bristol City will look to keep their unbeaten start to the Championship alive as they visit Hillsborough on Saturday (15:00 BST).

The Robins have enjoyed a good opening to the season with two wins and two draws, but are nursing some transfer window disappointment after failing to sign an additional striker.

On the other hand, Sheffield Wednesday have not yet registered a league win and will hoping to do so on home soil after signing Manchester United loanee Harry Amass on transfer deadline day.

• Sheffield Wednesday are unbeaten in their last three league games against Bristol City (W1 D2), with both league meetings last season ending in a draw (0-0 in October and 2-2 in January).

• Since a 3-2 win against Sheffield Wednesday in December 2012, Bristol City are without a win in their last eight league trips to Hillsborough (D3 L5).

• Sheffield Wednesday are winless in their last six league games (D3 L3), while they've lost seven of their previous nine at Hillsborough (W1 D1).

• Bristol City are one of four sides still unbeaten in the Championship so far this season (W2 D2); they last avoided defeat in their opening five league games of a campaign in 2020-21.

• Each of Scott Twine's three league goals for Bristol City this season have come away from home, with each of his previous seven coming on home soil. Indeed, no player has scored more often on the road in the Championship this season than Twine.

Image source, Getty Images

Middlesbrough boss Rob Edwards, Coventry City's Frank Lampard, West Bromwich Albion's Ryan Mason and Stoke City's Mark Robins have been nominated for the Championship's manager of the month award for August.

Edwards will be a strong contender as Boro occupy top spot after an unblemished winning start to the season, while Mason has enjoyed an unbeaten start in his first permanent managerial role with his Baggies side in second.

Lampard is also recognised as Coventry are yet to lose, while influential Sky Blues midfielder Victor Torp has earned a nomination for player of the month for his four goals in four matches.

Stoke City have another nominee in new signing Sorba Thomas, who has two goals and three assists across his four games, with the Potters who lie third under Robins.

Meanwhile, Norwich City striker Josh Sargent and Bristol City full-back Ross McCrorie round out the player of the month nominations after strong starts to their respective seasons.

Sargent has found the target five times in four games, while McCrorie delivered three assists and scored one goal in August.

The winners will be announced on Friday.

David Pottier
Fan writer

Image source, PA Media

City go into the international break buoyed by going unbeaten in four league games and off the back of a hugely entertaining 4-2 win over Hull City at the weekend, where the collective number of shots in the match was an abnormally high 49.

A little over 48 hours later, many City fans have that all too familiar deflated feeling as the transfer window slammed shut and the yearned-for additional striker did not materialise. A striker that would shore up an attacking lineup that, should Emil Riis get injured, is woefully weak.

There was one signing in the form of Brazilian Neto Borges on loan from Middlesbrough, who will offer something to City's defensive left flank. But that's it.

The club did resist offers for defender Zak Vyner who wasn't pushing for a move but who can leave for nothing in the summer. Being out of contract he can probably secure a better personal deal for himself then, unless he signs a new deal at City in the meantime.

City were looking to move on probably three of the four strikers of whom the general consensus is that none are up to the task of being effective in the Championship.

They succeeded to move on only one as Sam Bell went on a season-long loan to Wycombe Wanderers. It's somewhere his father Micky played for before joining City in the late 90s, with Micky eventually becoming a key member of the John Ward-led promotion side of 1997-98.

There were no takers for Sinclair Armstrong, Harry Cornick nor Fally Mayulu although the latter has offered some hope that he can contribute with a couple of promising late substitute appearances.

All in all there is an argument to say this has been a successful summer in terms of recruitment and retention. Riis and goalkeeper Radek Vitek appear to be inspired signings and after two-and-a-half years out through injury, you could argue Rob Atkinson is as good as a new one too.

Many expected Jason Knight to attract interest from a Premier League club but it never came. Adam Randell - the player City signed for £500,000 from Plymouth Argyle and was seen as a likely replacement for Knight had he gone - has probably been our best player so far.

Playing alongside the Irishman Knight in midfield the pair have a style suited to 'Struberball'.

City face a batch of five fixtures before the next international break which starts 6 October. If they can maintain their current top six position in the Championship table during this run it will bode well for the rest of the season.

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Will Bristol City make any additional signings? Will Plymouth Argyle add to their ranks?

Find out in our visualised two-hour special show as we follow all of your club's deadline day business. Watch here at 18:00 BST.

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Bristol City manager Gerhard Struber was delighted with his side's performance in their 4-2 win over Hull City.

Emil Riis scored twice, with Anis Mehmeti and Max Bird also getting in on the act and victory took City into the early-season Championship play-off places.

"It was a really good atmosphere, the mood was good and I really liked the reaction to the goal we conceded," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"The character and mentality was great; this was the football I love, very diagonal and stressful [for Hull]."

Struber admitted there were difficult points in the game, particularly praising his goalkeeper Radek Vitek.

"In the second half, we needed Radek, he did a great job. In the end, we deserved the win and I was really happy with how we dealt with challenging moments.

"The team was really good; how we reacted to the goal we conceded was the biggest impression from us."

The Robins will be away to Sheffield Wednesday in their first game after the interantional break, on 13 September.

Bristol City host Hull City on Saturday (15:00 BST) with both sides only suffering the one defeat so far this season.

Gerhard Struber's Robins are unbeaten in the Championship so far picking up five points after back-to-back draws followed an opening day romp at Sheffield United, with the Austrian's only loss being in the EFL Cup on Wednesday to Premier League side Fulham.

Hull's unbeaten league start came to an end last weekend following a 3-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers, but manager Sergej Jakirovic says his squad are prepared for the game after an illness struck the squad.

• Bristol City have lost just one of their past 14 league games against Hull City (W7 D6), with that a 2-1 defeat in July 2022.

• Hull City have won just one of their past 27 away league games against Bristol City (D7 L19), conceding 2.5 goals on average per visit to Ashton Gate in that time.

• Bristol City are unbeaten across their opening three league games this season (W1 D2), last going four undefeated to start a league campaign in 2020-21.

• Hull have won just one of their past eight away league games (D4 L3), failing to score in three of their last four.

• Bristol City have lost just one of their past 16 home league games (W11 D4), conceding multiple goals in just one match during that stint.

Bristol City should learn to trust themselves more after their EFL Cup exit to Fulham says head coach Gerhard Struber.

The Robins conceded two early goals inside 21 minutes to lose 2-0 at their Premier League opponents and exit the competition in the second round.

However after making a formation change and substitutions in the second half, City were more threatening in front of goal through Anis Mehmeti and Fally Mayulu.

"These are games where the boys can realise how quick a game can be in decision making, how quick they play, how quick they play out of a pressure zone and how they score," Struber told BBC Radio Bristol.

"We felt a massive opponent with massive quality and after the goals we conceded too much respect for them.

"We changed the shape a bit in the second half and this helped us to [be] better in possession and we also created one or two other good chances.

"We can learn to trust ourselves much more that also against an opponent on this level. We can create something and we can [put] them under pressure."

City lost attacking midfielder Josh Stokes to an injury in the 14th minute on his first start of the season and Struber said initial indication is the injury is "not good".

"His reaction was not good and everything I know right now looks more a bad injury," he said.

Listen to more from Bristol City on BBC Sounds.