Cardiff City take on fellow relegated rivals, Fulham in a huge Championship clash at the Cardiff City Stadium as both teams look to continue their promotion bids.
A win will lift the Bluebirds above the Londoners into fifth ahead of the weekend’s games, whilst Fulham could go third for at least 18 hours if they take all three points.
Team news
Embed from Getty ImagesNathaniel Mendez-Laing is ruled out for Cardiff with a mystery hamstring injury, meaning that Neil Warnock is set to name a similar team that played out a goalless draw at Blackburn last weekend.
Neil Etheridge (hamstring), Sol Bamba (knee), Matt Connolly (ankle), Jazz Richards (knee), Marlon Pack (hamstring) and Danny Ward (Achilles) are all long-term absentees.
Fulham could again be without Denis Odoi due to a knee injury whilst Bobby Reid is ineligible to face his parent club.
Form
Cardiff are unbeaten in three of their five opening league games, including a pair of 2-1 home wins against Luton and Huddersfield.
Fulham come into this match off the back of successive league and cup defeats against Nottingham Forest then Southampton respectively, although they had been on a three match winning run until last Saturday.
Stat Attack
- Cardiff are unbeaten in three of their last five meetings with Fulham (W1, D2, L2).
- Both teams have taken a 4-2 win from their last two clashes at the Cardiff City Stadium.
- Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored in each of his last four league appearances for Fulham.
Prediction
Given that both teams kept the bulk of their squads when coming down from the Premier League, I am expecting a fun encounter and especially after the last two meetings here saw six goals in both games.
Sadly I don’t think we will see a similar result this time round but if Cardiff can frustrate a powerful Cottagers attack, I reckon that they might sneak a late third straight home league win.
Prediction: Cardiff City 2-1 Fulham
Result: Cardiff City 1-1 Fulham
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