Walsall head coach Lee Grant has named his first competitive XI to face Bristol City in the Carabao Cup first round. The Saddlers will set up in a 3-4-3 formation, a change from the 4-2-3-1 formation used in pre-season.
The team will be captained by Ryan Leak, who makes his competitive debut alongside Jed Ward, Declan Skura, Elicha Ahui, Sven Sprangler, Isaac Moore, and Reece Smith.
Rico Browne and James Connolly returned to training earlier this week after knocks and are named among the subs. Summer arrivals Lewis Simper, Tai Sodje, and Andrew Dallas are also named on the bench, along with Leeds United loanee Charlie Crew, who signed yesterday.
Walsall (3-4-3): Ward; Burke, Leak, Skura; Ahui, Sprangler, Moore, Hancock; Clarke, Pressley, Smith.
Subs: Kilroy, Browne, Connolly, Sodje, Crew, Dallas, Simper, Harper, Adomah.
League standing (final 2025 table -- new season not yet under way): 13th in England League Two, 65 pts, 18W-11D-17L from 46 games, recent form LLWLL.
Goals this season: 56 scored, 56 conceded (0 goal difference).
Title race: 22 points behind leaders Bromley.
Next fixture: vs Accrington ST (away, 2027-02-06) (16th in the table).
The formation change is a significant one, and it will be interesting to see how it affects the team's performance against Bristol City.
