MATCH THREA " BLACKBURN ROVERS v CARDIFF CITY " MATCH THREAD

BLACKBURN ROVERS v CARDIFF CITY
Saturday 21st October, 3pm
Sky Bet Championship
Ewood Park 



Cardiff City XI: Alnwick; Ng, McGuinness, Goutas, Collins; Siopis, Ralls, Wintle; Bowler, Ugbo, Grant.

Subs: Runarsson, Panzo, Romeo, Rinomhota, Adams, R. Colwill, Tanner, Meite, Robinson.




Cardiff need to get back on track after 2 defeats and 1 draw in their last 3 matches.

City will be looking for revenge after their 5-2 mauling away at Blackburn in September ( Cup).


Approx 1,000 Cardiff fans are travelling to Blackburn

Pay on the day for Cardiff fans





Erol Bulut:

“I have no new injuries and a few players back.”

“ Everyone is ready and no tiredness, been a good break.”

"Everybody had a good few days to rest, also mentally, and to be fresh."







TEAM NEWS:

Callum O’Dowda and Aaron Ramsey continue to be out injured.

Yakou Meite expected return November.

Kion Etete expected return November.


Thankfully, Josh Bowler and Callum Robinson have both returned to full fitness in recent weeks, which will strengthen Cardiff’s offensive lineup


Callum Robinson and Jamilu Collins both fit and ready to start



Update:

Ramsey will be out until at least the end of November.



Ewood Park

Blackburn have played their home games at Ewood Park since 1890.

It was effectively completely rebuilt in the early 90s, with the reconstruction of all four stands completed in 1994.

The stadium currently has a capacity of 31,367.

The record attendance of 61,783 dates back to 1929 when they played Bolton in an FA Cup game.

The Opposition's Manager

Jon Dahl Tomasson was appointed Blackburn manager last summer.

They only missed out on the play-offs last season on goal difference, having competed for the top six for virtually the whole season.

He previously managed Malmo, where he won the Swedish title twice.

Opposition Dangerous Players

Arnor Sigurdsson has three goals in his four league games this season, he also scored when they beat us in the Carabao Cup.

Sammie Szmodics has seven goals and two assists in the league.

Head To Head 

Blackburn have beaten us in four of the last five meetings - including a 5-2 thrashing in the Carabao Cup last month.

Our only win in that time was a 1-0 victory last October in the Championship at CCS.

Team News - Predicted Line-Ups

Blackburn Rovers: Wahlstedt, Hill, Carter, Hyam, Pickering, Rankin-Costello, Markanday, Sigurdsson, Szmodics, Dolan

Cardiff City: Alnwick, Ng, McGuinness, Goutas, Collins, Siopis, Ralls, Wintle, Tanner, Grant, Ugbo

Last Game

Before the international break, Blackburn won 4-0 at QPR.

We drew 1-1 at home to Watford.

Match Odds

Blackburn Rovers - Evens
Cardiff City - 13/5
Draw - 5/2

Predictions

Post your predictions below 

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Cardiff need to get back on track after 2 defeats and 1 draw in their last 3 matches.

City will be looking for revenge after their 5-2 mauling away at Blackburn in September ( Cup).

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Tough game for us but hopefully the break and Blackburn being inconsistent will mean we scrape a result

Updated:

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Callum Robinson and Jamilu Collins both fit and ready to start

Siopis likely to be playing for Greece tonight against the Netherlands, hopefully he stays injury free. Think that's our last player on international duty in this window.

Goutas also in the Greece squad but unlikely to play.

Sam Gallagher admitted he was shocked to learn the extent of his calf injury that ruled him out for six weeks.

The Blackburn Rovers forward came off against Middlesbrough as a precaution, with Rovers winning the game 2-0. Jon Dahl Tomasson was optimistic that they had taken him off in time to avoid a serious injury.

It came as a major shock to Gallagher and the Rovers head coach that the scan came back with bad news. The Rovers striker was out for a minimum of six weeks in what proved to be a major blow.

A month on from that Middlesbrough game and the 28-year-old is working in the gym as he steps up his recovery. Patience is vital with this type of injury as rushing back too soon can lead to a reocurrence of the issue.

Having been ruled out for six weeks, Gallagher is hopeful of making a return to action at the end of October or early November. He conceded it's been a frustrating period, especially with the team trying to build momentum.

Callum O’Dowda and Aaron Ramsey continue to be out injured.

Thankfully, Josh Bowler and Callum Robinson have both returned to full fitness in recent weeks, which will strengthen Cardiff’s offensive lineup

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Yakou Meite expected return November.

Kion Etete

Another who suffered a hamstring injury away to Middlesbrough just before the break. The prognosis for Kion Etete is very similar to Meite, which is a shame because the striker appeared to be coming right into form.

Having started the season relatively poorly, considering how well he finished off last season, the striker seemed to be finding his feet once again, scoring goals freely and acting as a focal point up top. But he looks set to miss a few more games yet, meaning Ike Ugbo is likely to get a stretch of games - unless Callum Robinson gets the nod ahead of him.


Kion Etete expected return November.

Approx 1,000 Cardiff fans are travelling to Blackburn

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Erol Bulut:

“I have no new injuries and a few players back.”

“ Everyone is ready and no tiredness, been a good break.”

"Everybody had a good few days to rest, also mentally, and to be fresh."

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Erol Bulut believes Cardiff City's Carabao Cup defeat to Blackburn Rovers will have little influence on Saturday's match at Ewood Park.

Rovers beat the Bluebirds 5-2 at Ewood Park with both managers heavily rotating their sides. Bulut made wholesale changes and altered the formation to give some of his fringe and young players an opportunity.

Tomasson followed suit with eight changes, meaning the two line-ups that take to the field on Saturday will look entirely different. As a result, the Cardiff boss doesn't feel that the previous encounter will hold much weight.

"We have two away games coming up, they won't be easy games," Bulut said. "We played Blackburn in the cup game, we know how they play and we have prepared for that.

"Tomorrow we'll have a session on that. We have won four games in a row and we believe. We have a fighting spirit and we think we can do that again.
"It was a cup game and we changed the system. I didn't want to use the main XI players so we rotated a lot and used the young players.

"In the end, in the cup game, we shadow-marked the opponents. If you do that, you can't win the game. We have to be sharp, Saturday will be a different game."

Cardiff will welcome back Yakou Meite to their squad after he returned from injury ahead of schedule. Similarly, left-back Jamilu Collins is available despite pilling out of international duty.

Welsh international Aaron Ramsey remains on the sidelines, as is Callum O'Dowda, but the former is making good progress as he recovers from a knee problem. The 32-year-old is ahead of schedule, though Cardiff don't want to rush him.

"Yakou is good, it looks like he will be with us," Bulut said. "Already he has started slowly to run. He is doing well," he added on Ramsey.

"For Callum (O'Dowda), it can be long. It can be the end of December. Aaron can be earlier. I hope. It looks like it can be earlier. Our medical department is working well.

Blackburn Rovers have only won two and lost three of their five home matches this season.

There talis man Gallagher is out. That is a major boost for us.

CARDIFF CITY FC:

At today’s fixture, we will be wearing black armbands in memory of those who tragically lost their lives in the Aberfan disaster, which took place 57 years ago today.

CardiffCity also hopes for a swift and peaceful conclusion to the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza .

The @EFL’s charity partner, @BritishRedCross, is supporting the international response efforts aiding those in urgent need across the region.

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Blackburn Rovers manager Jon Dahl Tomasson is expecting a different Cardiff side to the one he beat 5-2 in the Carabao Cup third round last month.

The Bluebirds fielded a changed and youthful side for that cup clash, blooding a number of academy players later in the game as the Lancashire outfit soared to victory. Tomasson is prepared for a much-changed City at Ewood Park tomorrow, though.

"It was of course a great game in the cup," he said. "I made a lot of changes, my colleague also made a lot of changes. But we'll see a lot of the same things from them: good crossing, waiting on transition, defending in a block. In the end it’s about results, if you look at performances over a long period, the players and fans have deserved more."


Blackburn have big injury worries and have only won two of their last five home games, losing the other three.

Can’t see us winning with Bobby Maddley reffing.

Hates the Welsh and is always against us.

Cardiff City XI: Alnwick; Ng, McGuinness, Goutas, Collins; Siopis, Ralls, Wintle; Bowler, Ugbo, Grant.

Subs: Runarsson, Panzo, Romeo, Rinomhota, Adams, R. Colwill, Tanner, Meite, Robinson.

f*cking inbreds. On their forum...


"We've already given them a tonking and that was our reserves. I'm predicting another 5"

By my count we have zero players from that day starting, they have 5.

Anyone else think our next 3 games (including today) are all winable?

Decent start from City and Bowler shoots just wide from distance

Watching in Santa Ponsa:

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Was all City, now Blackburn

Bowler playing very well, showing what we've been missing while he's been injured

Bowler shows his dancing feet to trick three players before getting into the box. He almost pulls the trigger but the ball is just nicked from beneath him! Lovely work from the winger, though.

Dolan booked for a late challenge on Goutas

Goutas scores with a header but it's ruled out

Goutas scores with a header but it's ruled out

I guess I woke up the neighbors for nothing.

What an awful decision. It happened all so quickly how could that possibly have interfered with the goalkeeper.