2022-23 Sky Bet Championship: Week Five – Sunday

Bristol City host Cardiff City at Ashton Gate in the Severnside derby in a tasty Sky Bet Championship clash.

Victory could see Bristol City climb as high as seventh in the table, whereas Cardiff can go second on goal difference with a win unless they can defeat the Robins by six goals or more which would put them top.

 

Team News

Mark Sykes is suspended for Bristol City after he was red carded for a reckless tackle in their midweek win at home to Luton.

Stefan Bajic (wrist), Tomas Kalas (groin), Matty James (calf) and Antoine Semenyo (shin) remain absent.

Cardiff will be without Jamilu Collins indefinitely due to a serious knee injury suffered in their goalless draw at West Brom in midweek, with Joel Bagan set to deputise at left-back in this match.

Ebou Adams (shoulder) and Isaak Davies (knee) both remain absent.

 

Stat Attack

• Bristol City are unbeaten in four of their last six meetings against Cardiff (W4, L2).
• Cardiff have won four of their last six visits to Bristol City’s Ashton Gate (W4, L2).
• Three of Bristol City’s five goals against Cardiff last season were scored by Andreas Weimann, with the other two goals netted by Chris Martin.
• Weimann has been involved in five goals in four matches for Bristol City this season, having scored three goals and provided two assists.
• Callum O’Dowda has been involved in three goals for Cardiff following his move from the Robins this summer, having scored once and provided two assists.

 

Prediction

Bristol City come into this derby off the back of a morale-boosting midweek win over Luton where they were completely clinical in their first-half performance, especially in terms of their attacking pace and finishing quality plus managed their lead well despite Sykes’ red card.

Cardiff meanwhile were simply outplayed at West Brom with a toothless attack which registered zero shots on target, yet managed to snatch a point and clean sheet but improvement will be needed here after their derby embarrassment last season against both Bristol City and Swansea.

I am therefore hoping that both teams can provide a tough battle given that pride is at stake but the pressure is on Cardiff to avoid further derby day misery, which could give Bristol City the edge the longer it stays goalless.

Prediction: Bristol City 1-1 Cardiff City

Result: Bristol City 2-0 Cardiff City