Cardiffvs.Bristol City

The Robins are sitting just outside the playoffs in seventh place, while the Bluebirds are languishing in 20th position in the Championship table.

Match preview

Cardiff will be looking forward to returning to familiar surroundings after playing three consecutive away games since beating Derby County 2-1 at the Cardiff City Stadium on January 25.

Their run of away matches began with a demoralising 7-0 defeat against league leaders Leeds United, before they bounced back to beat Stoke City on penalties in the fourth round of the FA Cup after playing out a 3-3 draw at the bet365 Stadium.

Unfortunately for the Bluebirds, they were unable to build upon their cup success in Tuesday's Championship clash with Portsmouth, falling to a 2-1 defeat to leave them without a win in four away league games.

Having collected 31 points from as many league matches, Cardiff will head into the weekend with a two-point buffer to the bottom three, leaving them with work to do if they are to preserve their Championship status.

Omer Riza's side will at least fancy their chances of taking maximum points from Saturday's contest after winning their last two matches at the Cardiff City Stadium, recording a 3-0 home win over rivals Swansea City before getting the better of Derby.

They have also won three of their last four meetings with Bristol City (D1), including 2-0 victories in their previous two home encounters.

Bristol City are sitting just two points adrift of the playoffs after winning five, drawing three and losing two of their last 10 league matches.

The Robins suffered the most recent of those two defeats in last Saturday's home clash against Swansea, before they quickly returned to winning ways in Tuesday's meeting with Stoke City at Ashton Gate.

Anis Mehmeti scored a brace to fire the Robins to a 2-0 victory, with the result representing their sixth win in eight Championship home games (D1, L1).

Bristol City boss Liam Manning will be desperate for his side to carry their home form onto their travels, having seen his team fail to win any of their previous eight away matches.

As a result, it is now over three months since Bristol City recorded their most recent away victory over Norwich City on November 9.

With that in mind, Saturday's visitors will have to summon up a huge effort if they are to beat Cardiff for the first time since clinching a 2-0 home win in August 2022.

Cardiff City Championship form:

D

W

D

W

L

L

Cardiff City form (all competitions):

W

D

W

L

W

L

Bristol City Championship form:

L

D

W

D

L

W

Team News

Cardiff remain without the services of David Turnbull, Ollie Tanner and Isaak Davies due to their respective injury issues.

Jesper Daland is likely to miss a second straight game with an injury he picked up against Stoke, while Yakou Meite's thigh issue will have to be assessed following his absence from the last three matchday squads.

Australia international Alex Robertson is also a doubt after sitting out the previous two matches against Stoke and Portsmouth.

As for the visitors, they were recently dealt a blow following the news that Luke McNally would miss the rest of the season with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Bristol City are also expected to be without defender Cameron Pring and midfielder Ayman Benarous due to injury.

Experienced forward Nakhi Wells is pushing for a recall after dropping down to the bench for the midweek win over Stoke.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:

Alnwick; Rinomhota, Goutas, Bagan, O'Dowda; Chambers, Mannsverk; Ashford, Colwill, El Ghazi; Robinson

Bristol City possible starting lineup:

O'Leary; Vyner, Dickie, Roberts; Sykes, Bird, Knight, McCorie; Twine, Mehmeti; Wells

We say: Cardiff City 2-1 Bristol City

Written by

Ben Sully

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