Bristol Bears vs Leicester Tigers Prem preview: Lineups and predictions

Home team	Bristol Bears
Away team	Leicester Tigers
Venue	Ashton Gate
Competition	Prem
Kick-off time	7:45 pm (UK)
Watch Live in the UK	TNT Sports/HBO Max

Bristol Bears vs Leicester Tigers Prem preview as the sides meet in round five of the competition at Ashton Gate. Both teams have the same record after four games with three wins and one loss. Leicester are currently joint-top of the table on 16 points, while Bristol sit on 14 points, having picked up fewer bonus points.

Bristol Bears vs Leicester Tigers confirmed lineups

Bristol Bears		Leicester Tigers
Forwards
Genge	1		Van Der Flier
Oghre	2		Blamire
Kloska	3		Heyes
Rubiolo	4		Henderson
Batley	5		Chessum
Luatua	6		Wainwright
Harding	7		Carnduff
Ivanishvili	8		Cracknell
Backs
Randall	9		Whiteley
MacGinty	10		Searle
Ibitoye	11		Hassell-Collins
Williams	12		Bailey
Moroni	13		Kata
Rees-Zammit	14		Radwan
Jordan	15		Steward
Replacements
Gwilliam	16		Moli
Woolmore	17		M Vunipola
Chawatama	18		Hurd
Caulfield	19		Stooke
Owen	20		Moro
Marmion	21		Van Poortvliet
Bates	22		Wand
Grondona	23		Hamer-Webb

Recent Form:

Bristol Bears (Home team):

Result	Date	Competition	Opponent	Score
Won	24th October 2026	Prem	Exeter Chiefs	20-7
Loss	17th October 2026	Champions Cup	Stormers	49-12
Loss	10th October 2026	Prem	Saracens	30-7
Won	3rd October 2026	Prem	Northampton Saints	41-26
Won	26th September 2026	Prem	Sale Sharks	24-34

Bristol Bears returned from a disappointing European defeat against the Stormers with a great home win against the Exeter Chiefs. James Williams kicked 10 of the 20 points in difficult conditions to help Bristol win 20-7. The number 12 kicked five points in each half, converting one try and kicking a penalty. Williams perfect record in difficult conditions allowed Bristol to control the scoreboard. They led 10-0 at halftime; Greg Fisilau got one back shortly after the break and, with a narrow lead for the remainder of the game, Bristol scored 10 points in the final three minutes to win the match.

Leicester Tigers (Away team):

Result	Date	Competition	Opponent	Score
Won	24th October 2026	Prem	Northampton Saints	28-7
Loss	18th October 2026	Champions Cup	Pau	41-17
Won	9th October 2026	Prem	Gloucester	38-31
Won	3rd October 2026	Prem	Newcastle Red Bulls	19-24
Loss	27th Septemeber 2026	Prem	Saracens	38-40

Leicester Tigers have won three Prem games in a row, despite losing heavily in Europe to French side Pau. In the last round of the Prem, they picked up a huge home victory against the reigning Champions, Northampton Saints, in a massive 28-7 win. Leicester were 7-3 behind at the break but an altercation between the Leicester and Northampton teams, mostly Ollie Chessum and Henry Pollock as they went down the tunnel helped inspire Leicester to a big second half. They would score two tries within the first 12 minutes of the second half to go 13-7 ahead. Two further tries and a Billy Searle penalty would give Leicester the victory by 21 points.

Bristol Bears vs Leicester Tigers head-to-head record (last five matches):

Date	Competition	Winner	Score
22nd March 2026	Prem	Leicester Tigers	33-19
28th September 2025	Prem	Bristol Bears	42-24
20th April 2025	Prem	Leicester Tigers	19-36
21st December 2024	Prem	Bristol Bears	24-54
27th April 2024	Prem	Bristol Bears	19-21

Bristol Beats have won four of the last six meetings against Leicester Tigers with the winning side scoring at least 30 points in each of the last four games.