MATCH THREAD: “ CARDIFF CITY v STOKE CITY “ MATCH THREAD

CARDIFF CITY v STOKE CITY
Saturday 24th February, 3pm
Sky Bet Championship
Cardiff City Stadium 


ITS PAY ON THE DAY:



Cardiff City: Horvath; Ng, Goutas, Phillips; Wilson-Esbrand, Ralls (c), Siopis, R.Colwill, Grant; Bowler, Etete

Subs: Turner, Romeo, Collins, Wintle, J.Colwil, Turnbull, Meite, Ashford, Diedhou




Erol Bulut:

"The last game against Blackburn was a game to get our confidence back.”

“Against Stoke if we stay calm, patient and with the willingness on the field to get three points, we will get them.”







Erol Bulut:

"Joe Ralls may be could have had 20 minutes with Blackburn . But I did not want to take that risk that something could happen to lose him for more weeks."


Yakou Meite is back available on the weekend.




Updated:


Erol Bulut on Callum O’Dowda:

“I hope we can use him next week, 20 to 30 minutes, maybe.”





EROL BULUT:

“Perry NG has been back fully in training and could start.”

“Ramsey will be out now until the first week of April, his injury was worse than we thought.”

“O’Dowda is in training and hopefully we see him play soon.”



The Opposition's Manager

Steven Schumacher was appointed Stoke manager in December.

Before that he was manager of Plymouth, who he won the League One title with last season.

Opposition Dangerous Players

Luke Cundle was very good with Plymouth in the first half of the season, getting eight goals and assists.

Josh Laurent is a former transfer target of Cardiff City.

Head To Head 

We drew 0-0 at Stoke in November.

Four of our last five meetings have been a draw, with us winning the other one.

Team News - Predicted Line-Ups

Cardiff City: Horvath, Romeo, Goutas, Phillips, Collins, Siopis, Wintle, Colwill, Bowler, Grant, Etete

Stoke City: Bonham, Hoever, Wilmot, Rose, Thompson, Baker, Pearson, Cundle, Gooch, Laurent, Lowe

Last Game

We drew with Blackburn on Tuesday.

Stoke lost 1-0 at home to Coventry last Saturday.

Match Odds

Cardiff City - 17/10
Stoke City - 6/4
Draw - 12/5

Predictions

Post your predictions below 

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Perry Ng: Defender could start for Cardiff City against Stoke -

Influential Cardiff City defender Perry Ng could start Saturday's home Championship game against Stoke City.

Club captain Joe Ralls could also feature as the Bluebirds look for their first home win since early December.

Ng and Ralls were unused substitutes during Tuesday's night's 0-0 draw with Blackburn Rovers.

"He (Ng) was not ready 90 minutes because of his hips," said manager Erol Bulut.

"Also Joe Ralls may be could have had 20 minutes. But I did not want to take that risk that something could happen to lose him for more weeks."

Ng missed the 4-1 thrashing at Norwich last weekend, while Ralls started at Carrow Road.

With Wales skipper Aaron Ramsey now sidelined for a month with a tendon issue, Bulut is wary of taking chances over the fitness of players.

Ng has been arguably Cardiff's best player this season, chipping in with five goals from defence.

The Bluebirds have not scored at home in more than six-and-a-half hours of football.

Ralls, the longest-serving Cardiff player, adds drive and bite in midfield.

Bulut said: "We already have many injuries to main players that we could not use. So I always have to be careful of that.

"But I think Perry will be OK for the weekend."

The Cardiff boss felt the performance in the drab draw with Blackburn was improved and wants to build on that against the Potters, who are 19th, five places and six points below Cardiff in the Championship table.

Bulut said: "Confidence is very important. [Against Blackburn] we got back a little bit with more positive things.

"With more confidence at the weekend against Stoke, I hope with the really big support again from our fans to give them three points and everybody will be happy at the weekend."

10/02/2024 Cardiff City 0 Preston 2 Crowd 18,763. Away Support 562

13/02/2024 West Bromwich Albion 2 Cardiff City 0 Crowd 23,541 Away Support 1,629

17/02/2024 Norwich City 4 Cardiff City 1 Crowd Away Support 372

20/02/2024 Cardiff City 0 Blackburn 0 Crowd 17,131 Away Support 369


24/02/2024 15:00 Cardiff City v Stoke City Crowd Away Support



02/03/2024 12:30pm Bristol City v Cardiff City Crowd Away Support
06/03/2024 19:45 Huddersfield Town (h)

Live on Sky 09/03/2024 12:30pm Ipswich Town (h)

Live on Sky tv: 16/03/2024 12:30pm Swansea City (a)
29/03/2024 15:00 Sunderland (h)



01/04/2024 15:00 Coventry City (a)
06/04/2024 15:00 Hull City (h)
10/04/2024 19:45 Birmingham City (a)
13/04/2024 15:00 Millwall (a)
20/04/2024 15:00 Southampton (h)
27/04/2024 15:00 Middlesbrough (h)

04/05/2024 15:00 Rotherham United (a)

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EROL BULUT:

“Ramsey will be out now until the first week of April, his injury was worse than we thought.”

“O’Dowda is in training and hopefully we see him play soon.”

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Stoke have lost 5 of their last 6 league games

Erol Bulut:

“Perry NG has been back fully in training and could start.”

It’s been a disappointing campaign for Stoke City so far, currently sitting 19th in the Sky Bet Championship table.

Their last six fixtures have resulted in three points, with one win and five defeats, leaving them 22nd in the form table.

Last time out, Schumacher’s side welcomed Coventry City to the Bet365 Stadium and fell to a 1-0 defeat.

On their travels this season, the Potters have won four out of 16 matches, recording 16 points.

Replies:

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5 pts from 27 at CCS, no home win in 11 weeks, no home goal since Boxing Day, 22nd on form.

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Updated:


Erol Bulut on Callum O’Dowda:

“I hope we can use him next week, 20 to 30 minutes, maybe.”

Yakou Meite is back available on the weekend.

0-0.

I honestly think we will beat Stoke City, they are worse than us and that’s saying something.

We need to score to beat them & for that to happen we might need to pass it forward for a change, I'm sure they'll all get a headache if they go too far up the pitch.

Ethan Horvath spoke to the press ahead of our Sky Bet Championship clash against Stoke City on Saturday...

The City goalkeeper has started the last three fixtures, having joined the Bluebirds on a permanent deal in January.

"It's almost been a month here and I'm settling in well," Ethan began. "My family are really happy here. Everything is going well. It's a fantastic city, a great group of guys and I'm happy with my start to life in Cardiff.

"There's a lot about the city to like. I'm from Colorado and my wife is from Norway, so we're used to nature and the outdoors. You have Penarth and Pontcanna, which are really nice areas. The middle of the city is also really nice, so there are loads of different things to do, which we love.

"It's been a while since I played games and now I've played three games in the space of two weeks, so that's really good for me. The games come thick and fast, it's not Saturday to Saturday. After Tuesday, we've got another game to look forward to on Saturday and that's been good for me to get the games in quick and fast, get the cobwebs out and get back to the Championship, because it's a tough league."

Ethan continued: "There were a lot of positives on Tuesday. First of all, the clean sheet is something positive to build on. I

know I've only been here a short time, but from the games that I have played in, we've created a lot of opportunities from open play, which is a positive, because I know that from offensive set-pieces, the team is very strong. I think it's a step in the right direction to see how much we did create from open play.

"I know Stoke have changed manager and have probably changed style from the last time that I played them and probably from the last time Cardiff City first played them in the season as well. We'll do all of our analysis, but I'm pretty sure we can expect a similar game on Saturday like it was on Tuesday. We just have to take the positives from Tuesday and build that into our game on Saturday. If we get the three points, that's a step in the right direction."

Stoke have won 3 games out of the last 20 . Yes 20 games We need to win this or heads will be on the chopping block that's the bottom line. If we can't beat these on our own turf we really are in a f*cking mess tbh.

Updated:

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Cardiff City v Stoke City


Latest Match Odds

Cardiff City - 5/4
Stoke City - 3/1
Draw - 6/4

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3-1 and finally a home win for us suffering fans (Grant Turnbull Phillips)Att 16,473

We should , but I really expect City to beat Stoke today and hopefully this is a turning point.

Erol Bulut:

"The last game against Blackburn was a game to get our confidence back.”

“Against Stoke if we stay calm, patient and with the willingness on the field to get three points, we will get them.”

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CCFC:

Yakou Meite will be back for after missing the last two games with a calf injury. Republic of Ireland duo Callum O'Dowda and Callum Robinson are also training but are not yet ready to feature, however Bulut hopes the former can get some action next week and leading into the international break, which will be a big boost for the Bluebirds.

Jak Alnwick needs one more week before he is fully fit and ready to play again, while Perry Ng and Joe Ralls are both in contention to start at home today.

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I have drawn some conclusions about the midfield.

Siopis isn't a "6" in the championship
Wintle can only be a "6" in the championship

Wintle and Siopsis should work but doesn't, it's far too defensive at home

So I believe it should be a "6" & two "10"'s Wintle Colwill & Turnbull
or two "8"'s and a "10" Ralls, Siopis & Colwill

We don't need a 6 and an 8 as its too defensive and definitely don't need two "6"'s and an "8" which is fcuking ridiculous

We'll see

Cardiff City: Horvath; Ng, Goutas, Phillips; Wilson-Esbrand, Ralls (c), Siopis, R.Colwill, Grant; Bowler, Etete

Subs: Turner, Romeo, Collins, Wintle, J.Colwil, Turnbull, Meite, Ashford, Diedhou

Bluebirds 3pts nothing less

Rose looks to play it back to the keeper early on.

Pass only just makes it, with Kion Etete lurking.

It looks so empty

Bet365 have Kion Etete @ 101/1 to score a Hat Trick today.

Just saying