Rothwell in, 4-3-3 : The predicted Southampton FC XI to face Bristol City on Tuesday | OneFootball

Highlights

Southampton continued their incredible vein of Championship form on Saturday afternoon, in what was an extraordinary encounter against Huddersfield Town at St Mary's.

Despite finding themselves 2-0 down at half-time and still 3-2 down with ten minutes to go, Russell Martin's side showed a massive amount of character to eventually come away 5-3 victors on the South Coast.

This now extends their club-record unbeaten run to 25 games in all competitions, of which 22 have come in the second tier, as they are currently sat in second place.

Next up for the Saints is a trip to Ashton Gate to take on Liam Manning'sBristol City outfit, who won 2-1 at Middlesbrough on Saturday. In the reverse fixture on November 29th, Southampton emerged 1-0 winners through a 47th minute goal from Kyle Walker-Peters.

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Despite the euphoria that surrounded the remarkable comeback, there were two casualties from the game which could alter the upcoming lineup we see in the West Country on Tuesday night.

Flynn Downes was substituted on 33 minutes, replaced by eventual two-goal hero Joe Rothwell. To add another potential conundrum, Che Adams was also substituted at half-time for David Brooks in a tactical change, before Martin revealed to the Daily Echo that he sustained a calf problem.

"We’ll have to assess Flynn and see. We have got a relentless schedule right now," Martin began.

He added: "Che didn’t go off injured. He could have carried on but he has got a knock. I wasn’t aware of his injury, I just felt we needed a winger on that side of the pitch against the back five.

"But, yeah he had a knock as well. I didn’t know until after but they’re really confident he’ll be fine for Tuesday,"

With that being said, FLW predicts Martin's upcoming XI to take on the Robins.

Southampton's Predicted XI to take on Bristol City

The Republic of Ireland international will remain between the sticks, having become one of the more impressive goalkeepers in the division after a shaky start to the campaign.

The aforementioned victory in November against Tuesday's opponents also kickstarted a run of five clean sheets from the following seven matches. Bazunu will be hoping for more of the same after shipping three against the Terriers on Saturday.

RB: Kyle Walker-Peters

Arguably Southampton's player of the season, Kyle Walker-Peters will continue his record of playing in every minute of every Championship outing on Tuesday night.

Having scored one of his two goals this campaign against the same opponents, Bristol City will be all too aware of his threat in attack, as well as the fact he's only been dribbled past 0.4 times per 90 minutes.

CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis

The first half of a defensive duo that endured a shaky outing against Huddersfield is next, but that game doesn't detract from how good the Manchester City loanee has been in this sytem in recent times.

His previous experience of promotion with Burnley will also come in handy as they continue to battle with Leeds and Ipswich over second spot.

CB: Jan Bednarek

Bednarek has been just as impressive in a run where Southampton have conceded just six goals in their last nine Championship games.

The Polish international also scored in their last away trip, a 2-0 success over Rotherham United on February 2nd, proving his aerial threat from set plays.

LB: Ryan Manning

Similarly to Walker-Peters on the opposite flank, Manning has been an extremely consistent performer for his former Swansea City boss.

Despite underperforming his xA total of 4.44, this underpins just how much this system relies on building from the back, as well as having the athletic full-backs to utilise wide space as an area to create a multitude of chances.

CM: Joe Rothwell

The first of two changes to this side comes in the form of Rothwell, who is an enforced swap regardless of his two-goal cameo on Saturday.

xGOT total of just 0.65, before netting his second just a minute later.

Ashton Gate will also be the setting of his first league start for the club, having also played from the off in the two FA Cup outings against Watford.

The other two midfielders are self-explanatory, with Will Smallbone the first of those.

Smallbone has been utilised as a box-to-box midfielder, echoed by stats such as a 94% and 87% pass completion percentage in either Southampton's or the opposition half.

He also netted in a recent away win over Swansea City on January 20th.

CM: Stuart Armstrong

Rounding off the central trio is Stuart Armstrong, who has brought a breadth of experience and creativity to the table this season.

Having recently been nominated for the Championship Player of the Month award, the 31-year-old will want to add to his recent streak of four goal contributions across six matches in all competitions.

Despite Martin holding a hopeful stance that Che Adams may be fit for this encounter, Brooks did enough to warrant a starting place in his second-half cameo.

The Welshman was instrumental in dragging the Saints back into the contest, assisting Rothwell, as well as turning provider for Sekou Mara's 84th minute equaliser.

The club's top scorer is up next, and it was a rare occasion of late to see the on-field captain replaced despite chasing a deficit at the time of his 79th minute subsitution for the aforementioned Mara.

However, with 15 goals and 11 assists in 32 appearances this season, Armstrong remains Southampton's most potent creative threat, also scoring three in his last five league games.

Rounding off the XI is Ryan Fraser, who once again will cause the Bristol City defence major issues with his pace.

Although he was somewhat below par on Saturday, five goals and two assists so far in the league this campaign is an impressive record for the Scot, who has only started eight times.