Bristol vs Harlequins Prediction: Bears can be too strong again

Saturday is arguably the biggest afternoon of the season in the Gallagher Prem with a trio of high-profile games at iconic venues spread across the day.

Amongst those is the clash between Bristol and Harlequins at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, sandwiched in between the Villa Park showdown between Gloucester and Leicester and the Saracens vs Northampton tussle at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Bristol are in the play-off picture and should find themselves in an attacking contest as they face Quins in the Welsh capital (KO 15:30, TNT Sports 1). Read on for my Bristol vs Harlequins predictions.

Bristol vs Harlequins Odds

Team News

Bristol boss Pat Lam has recalled Ellis Genge, Tom Jordan and Louis Rees-Zammit to the Bears' starting XV following their Six Nations commitments.

Genge joins George Kloska and Gabriel Oghre in the front row, while Jordan partners Harry Randall at half back and Rees-Zammit gets the nod at full-back. Kalaveti Ravouvou and Academy wing Aidan Boshoff complete the back three alongside the Welsh international.

Santiago Grondona comes in at number eight, while fellow Puma Matias Moroni starts in midfield alongside James Williams. James Dun and Joe Owen both get the nod in the second row.

Harlequins have made four changes to their starting XV from the home reverse against Gloucester.

There is a Prem debut at tighthead as Welshman Joe Jones starts, while teenager Elliott Williams makes a first start and joins Kieran Treadwell in the engine room.

Williams' inclusion sees Guido Petti Pagadizabal shift to blindside flanker, Jack Kenningham starts on the openside and Alex Dombrandt continues to skipper the side from No.8.

Bryn Bradley starts at inside centre, with Cadan Murley's role shifting to outside centre Jamie Benson comes into the starting XV at full-back. Nick David and Rodrigo Isgro are on the wings.

Bristol -15 @ 8/11

The Bears have dominated this match-up in recent times, winning the last four Prem meetings by a combined 101 points, with the winning margins all in quite similar at 26 points (twice), 25 points and 24 points.

Lam's side have lots of attacking possibilities, while Quins remain inconsistent. The Bristol effort is minus the injured Viliame Mata here, but they have the power and flair to cope. Wide man Kalaveti Ravouvou tops the league in metres made with 686 for the season and the Fijian is a key danger.

The Bears need a victory here to climb back into the play-off places before the league breaks for a couple of weekends of European action as they look for a positive response after last weekend's 33-19 defeat at Leicester Tigers.

Ninth-placed Harlequins were downed 26-19 on their own patch by Gloucester last time out and their recent record in this fixture suggest the Bears can run out with a comfortable success at the Principality Stadium en route to making it nine wins in 12 so far in the Prem this season as they look for a return to the top four.

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