MATCH THREAD: " SUNDERLAND v CARDIFF CITY " MATCH THREAD

SUNDERLAND v CARDIFF CITY
Saturday 8th March, 3pm
Sky Bet Championship - Match 36
Stadium Of Light 


Pay on the day for Cardiff Fans:

Cardiff have been allocated 2,500 Tickets:


478 Cardiff fans away today.





Cardiff are 4th from Bottom of the Championship, but with a 4pt clear gap.

Currently it’s 4 Wins from Cardiff’s last 21 League Games:



Update:


This is good news:

Omer: "@10DavidTurnbull is training. He trained really well today.

"Jesper Daland is running, and did some technical stuff with us in the morning."






Omer Riza:

“Yak (Yakou Meite) and Rallsy (Joe Ralls) did some training individually with the S&C (strength and conditioning) coaches, they are on their way back.”



Andy Rinomhota has been ruled out of this weekend's trip up to the Stadium of Light after picking up a hamstring injury against Burnley on Tuesday night.



TEAM NEWS:

Omer Riza:

Alves could be in contention for the Sunderland game as he has recovered from his latest injury.

"Ollie Tanner won't be ready and could be a long way off, Dave Turnbull won't be ready.”

"They are both still a fair way off.”


Omer Riza:

“Jak Alnwick had a bad tear in his hamstring. That will rule him out probably until the end of the season. It’s a shame for him and a shame for us because he’s been excellent.”


Turnbul March to get back.

"Jesper has had his scans. He had his stitches, he had eight stitches in his shin," Riza said of the defender. "Hopefully they will come out on Monday, then the healing process of that, however long that takes, it's in an awkward position.

"Yakou [Meite] is back training, he has trained with the squad, fully, he was injured with his thigh, but he is back training now and back in contention to be selected.”

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Club Connections

Simon Moore had a spell at Cardiff City and signed for Sunderland last summer.

Historically there have been a number of players to have played for both teams.

Most notably these are Adam Matthews, Michael Chopra and Fraizer Campbell.

Rival Players.

There are no ex Swansea or Bristol City players in the Sunderland squad.

The Opposition's Manager

Regis Le Bris is the Sunderland manager, having been appointed last summer.

This is his second managerial role after leaving Lorient in France at the end of last season.

He had a playing career in France, including spending eight years at Rennes.

Opposition Dangerous Players

Jobe Bellingham is having a strong season. He has four goals and three assists and has impressed.

Wilson Isidor has twelve league goals this season.

Eliezer Mayenda scored both the goals in their win last weekend.

Head To Head 

Sunderland won the return fixture 2-0 in August on the opening day of the season.

That was one of three wins in the last five against us for them, with us winning the other two.

Team News - Predicted Line-Ups

Sunderland: Patterson, Hume, Mepham, O'Nien, Hjelde, Browne, Neil, Bellingham, Roberts, Mundle, Mayenda

Cardiff City: Horvath, Rinomhota, Ng, Goutas, Bagan, O'Dowda, Chambers, Mannsverk, Robertson, Ashford, Salech

Last Game

We lost 2-1 at home to Burnley on Tuesday.

Sunderland won 2-1 at Sheffield Wednesday last weekend.

Match Odds

Sunderland - 1/2
Cardiff City - 5/1
Draw - 3/1

Predictions

Post your predictions below 

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Sunderland have had a terrible time with injuries.


When are Sunderland’s injured players expected to return?

Speaking on The Roar podcast, SAFC chief writer Phil Smith said: “Le Fée will definitely be back before the end of the season, unless he has a setback, but it was four to six weeks and it will be a fortnight on Saturday since he suffered his injury. So, all being well, he could be back for the last games of March after the international break. More realistically, you're probably looking at early mid-April, but I think there's every chance that he gets a few games running into that play-off campaign. So, at the moment, we shouldn't have any negativity about Le Fée in terms of playing an impact at the end of the season.

“Ballard's obviously going to be a bit tighter in terms of having another couple of weeks off the back of that. So, with Ballard, hopefully, he'll be fit for the play-offs, but it'll also be about how much match fitness he can get before that.

“Poveda, we don't know yet. Obviously, not great. He's missed another game and he's just really struggling to get any momentum. Tommy Watson should be back in the squad this weekend. So there’s another option. Obviously, I don't think he's going to be starting games straight away, but he can certainly make a bit of an impact off the bench, which helps you manage Mundle’s workload. That's a really big positive.

“Then it's a case of your Seelt, your Abdullahi, players like that. Seelt, he’s just topping up his minutes in the under-21s, really, which I think is sensible until he's needed. Abdullahi still clearly isn't over that groin injury, which is definitely a concern.”

Pay on the day for Cardiff Fans:

Cardiff have been allocated 2,500 Tickets:

TEAM NEWS:

Omer Riza:

Alves could be in contention for the Sunderland game as he has recovered from his latest injury.

"Ollie Tanner won't be ready and could be a long way off, Dave Turnbull won't be ready.”

"They are both still a fair way off.”


Omer Riza:

“Jak Alnwick had a bad tear in his hamstring. That will rule him out probably until the end of the season. It’s a shame for him and a shame for us because he’s been excellent.”


Turnbul March to get back.

"Jesper has had his scans. He had his stitches, he had eight stitches in his shin," Riza said of the defender. "Hopefully they will come out on Monday, then the healing process of that, however long that takes, it's in an awkward position.

"Yakou [Meite] is back training, he has trained with the squad, fully, he was injured with his thigh, but he is back training now and back in contention to be selected.”

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06/11/2024 Luton Town 1 Cardiff City 0 Crowd 10,656 Away Support 1,030


09/11/2024 Cardiff City 1 Blackburn Rovers 3 Crowd 17,818 includes 801 Blackburn fans


23/11/2024 Sheffield Wednesday 1 Cardiff City 1 Crowd Away Support 635



27/11/2024 Cardiff City 0 Queens Park Rangers 2 Crowd 15,687 Away 370


30/11/2024 Coventry City 2 Cardiff City 2 Crowd 27,137 Away 1,790


01/02/25 Leeds 7 Cardiff City 0 Crowd 35,810 Away Support 1,214


11/02/25 Portsmouth 2 Cardiff City 1 Crowd 20,280 Away Support 1,370


15/02/25 Cardiff City 1 Bristol City 1 Crowd 22,433 Away Support 3,120


22/02/25 Plymouth Argyle 1 Cardiff City 1 Crowd 16,573 Away Support 1,733


25/02/25 Cardiff City 1 Hull City 0 Crowd 17,180 Away Support 365



04/03/2025 Cardiff City 1 Burnley 2 Crowd 15,713 Away Support 483



08/03/2025 Sunderland v Cardiff City Crowd Away Support



11/03/2025 Cardiff City v Luton Town Crowd Away Support





15/03/2025 - 15:00 - Blackburn Rovers (a)

29/03/2025 - 15:00 - Sheffield Wednesday (h)

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well considering one win away from home all season cant see it changing here sunderland win

OK REMAINING 11 FIXTURES / 33 PTS / TEAM IS SETTLED / MAIN PLAYERS FIT / WE HAVE GOOD STRIKERS / SOME BRILLIANT YOUNGER PLAYERS ALL GOOD ENOUGH TO PLAY:

Let’s See how Omer Riza does?



08/03/2025 Sunderland v Cardiff City


11/03/2025 Cardiff City v Luton Town



15/03/2025 - 15:00 - Blackburn Rovers (a)

29/03/2025 - 15:00 - Sheffield Wednesday (h)

05/04/2025 - 15:00 - Queens Park Rangers (a)

08/04/2025 - 19:45 - Preston North End (a)

12/04/2025 - 15:00 - Stoke City (h)

18/04/2025 - 15:00 -Sheffield United (a)

21/04/2025 - 15:00 - Oxford United (h)

26/04/2025 -15:00 - West Bromwich Albion (h)

03/05/2025 -15:00 -Norwich City (a)

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Ok Sunderland are very very inconsistent at Home, Away is where they’ve done very good:

Sunderland’s Recent Home Record:

Played 5 at Home Won 1.

Lost at Home to Hull recently and Drew at Home to Plymouth:

Surely we should go their attack minded and go for the Win?

Sitting back isn't working. Go at them.

As close to the second half 11 as possible, considering fatigue and cotton-wool Ramsey treatment.

It's the business end of the season now and we need to start picking points ASAP, much bigger and better clubs than ours have been relegated so hopefully we give it a go and snatch a win but would settle for a draw

Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

Reply:

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Andy Rinomhota has been ruled out of this weekend's trip up to the Stadium of Light after picking up a hamstring injury against Burnley on Tuesday night

Omer Riza:

“Yak (Yakou Meite) and Rallsy (Joe Ralls) did some training individually with the S&C (strength and conditioning) coaches, they are on their way back.”

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RLB on Cardiff City:

'”Cardiff have many good players, and we have recognised their attacking threats.”
“I feel potentially they have a far better squad than their league position suggests.”
“We must keep a consistent focus and show our clinical side.”

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Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

We lost

Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

We lost

I know.

Doesn't mean the set up was wrong, we lost to the team 3rd in the league

Got to change the mindset .We need to command games control things .To do that we need a game plan that is gonna work.I don't see the safety first approach working for us the table don't lie .
It's not good enough and burnley wasn't good enough we lost and we've lost to many points and to many games .
If he stays playing the way he does we are going down I can't see another end for us .
We look strong going forward we don't look strong defending so play to your strength.
It's a weak team that roll over to easily and we don't take the game to the opposition we get dictated and that has to stop.
All this bull shit we are to good to go down etc is crap .
I hope I'm talking crap but honestly the way I see us

Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

We lost

I know.

Doesn't mean the set up was wrong, we lost to the team 3rd in the league

We lost and should of lost by more they didn't do themselves any favours for us to still be in it last 20 they could of and should of put us to bed .
I hate negative posts but that's what I see .We are a weak to low on confidence with a soft under belly .We only really play when we are behind .For me if it stays like this we are down in my opinion it's not good enough we don't do enough to go win a game not enough ambition. We had 6 players in the box last 20 against Burnley how many times did we cross a ball in the box it was terrible.
Got to play with more of a threat and quicker on the ball and stop going side to side backwards and playing out from the back more often than not we lose the ball in possession the we don't track from midfield then the defence are all looking at each other no one takes responsibility in there and it's a goal some goals we concede are very poor .you can't stay in this league playing football like that it is poor that's what I see

Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

We lost

I know.

Doesn't mean the set up was wrong, we lost to the team 3rd in the league

We lost and should of lost by more they didn't do themselves any favours for us to still be in it last 20 they could of and should of put us to bed .
I hate negative posts but that's what I see .We are a weak to low on confidence with a soft under belly .We only really play when we are behind .For me if it stays like this we are down in my opinion it's not good enough we don't do enough to go win a game not enough ambition. We had 6 players in the box last 20 against Burnley how many times did we cross a ball in the box it was terrible.
Got to play with more of a threat and quicker on the ball and stop going side to side backwards and playing out from the back more often than not we lose the ball in possession the we don't track from midfield then the defence are all looking at each other no one takes responsibility in there and it's a goal some goals we concede are very poor .you can't stay in this league playing football like that it is poor that's what I see

Well I disagree. I think it would be suicidal to attack from the start against the likes of Sunderland and Burnley.

Cardiff won't focus on Luton ahead of Sunderland trip

Manager Omer Riza says Cardiff City won't prioritise next week's relegation showdown against Luton Town over Saturday's trip to Sunderland.

The Bluebirds face the Hatters who are directly below them in the Championship table on Tuesday night after the weekend trip to Wearside this weekend.

But Riza is adamant his selection will not be influenced by what is happening next week.

Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

We lost

I know.

Doesn't mean the set up was wrong, we lost to the team 3rd in the league

We lost and should of lost by more they didn't do themselves any favours for us to still be in it last 20 they could of and should of put us to bed .
I hate negative posts but that's what I see .We are a weak to low on confidence with a soft under belly .We only really play when we are behind .For me if it stays like this we are down in my opinion it's not good enough we don't do enough to go win a game not enough ambition. We had 6 players in the box last 20 against Burnley how many times did we cross a ball in the box it was terrible.
Got to play with more of a threat and quicker on the ball and stop going side to side backwards and playing out from the back more often than not we lose the ball in possession the we don't track from midfield then the defence are all looking at each other no one takes responsibility in there and it's a goal some goals we concede are very poor .you can't stay in this league playing football like that it is poor that's what I see

I agree with you as we start on the back foot every game. This playing out of defence, invariably started by our goalkeeper, is so boring and dangerous, as we are no good at it. It is very poor and nerve wracking to watch. We should definitely start with a more positive attitude - as they say, ‘Attack is the best form of defence’

Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

We lost

I know.

Doesn't mean the set up was wrong, we lost to the team 3rd in the league

We lost and should of lost by more they didn't do themselves any favours for us to still be in it last 20 they could of and should of put us to bed .
I hate negative posts but that's what I see .We are a weak to low on confidence with a soft under belly .We only really play when we are behind .For me if it stays like this we are down in my opinion it's not good enough we don't do enough to go win a game not enough ambition. We had 6 players in the box last 20 against Burnley how many times did we cross a ball in the box it was terrible.
Got to play with more of a threat and quicker on the ball and stop going side to side backwards and playing out from the back more often than not we lose the ball in possession the we don't track from midfield then the defence are all looking at each other no one takes responsibility in there and it's a goal some goals we concede are very poor .you can't stay in this league playing football like that it is poor that's what I see

Well I disagree. I think it would be suicidal to attack from the start against the likes of Sunderland and Burnley.

I respect your opinion but that's why we lose games that's fear and we don't need to fear anyone we have some very good players .I'm not saying go mad but show some intention to win games from the first whistle let the opposition no they are in a game .we do the opposite it just gives them confidence to go beat us .
Anyway where all entitled to our opinion let's hope we stay in this league

This is good news:

Omer: "@10DavidTurnbull is training. He trained really well today.

"Jesper Daland is running, and did some technical stuff with us in the morning."

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

We lost

I know.

Doesn't mean the set up was wrong, we lost to the team 3rd in the league

We lost and should of lost by more they didn't do themselves any favours for us to still be in it last 20 they could of and should of put us to bed .

I disagree with your opening statement, I think they were lucky to leave with 3 points in the end and a draw was more than fair in the balance of the game. However, it's hard to disagree with the rest..

Stick with the same tactics as yesterday.

That worked against Burnley and can work at Sunderland.

We lost

I know.

Doesn't mean the set up was wrong, we lost to the team 3rd in the league

I hate negative posts but that's what I see .We are a weak to low on confidence with a soft under belly .We only really play when we are behind .For me if it stays like this we are down in my opinion it's not good enough we don't do enough to go win a game not enough ambition. We had 6 players in the box last 20 against Burnley how many times did we cross a ball in the box it was terrible.
Got to play with more of a threat and quicker on the ball and stop going side to side backwards and playing out from the back more often than not we lose the ball in possession the we don't track from midfield then the defence are all looking at each other no one takes responsibility in there and it's a goal some goals we concede are very poor .you can't stay in this league playing football like that it is poor that's what I see

We ARE weak, we ARE low on confidence and we have proven in patches that when we are up for the battles (over the fear of losing them, which ultimately results in losing them) and take on teams, we show some good stuff.

We need to forget Sunderland's positives and travel up there for a scrap and know that once we match them for effort, we too have match winners and quality both on the pitch and off the bench.

Replies:

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Riza said in his interview that he will be placing more emphasis on attack from now on. I think he will do that tonight with an attacking side like the one posted. It's a shot to nothing really. He has to try it out and maybe he realises that the passionate Sunderland crowd will get on the players back if we take the game to them. However, there will be 11 Sunderland players out there trying to prevent us from doing this.

Riza said in his interview that he will be placing more emphasis on attack from now on. I think he will do that tonight with an attacking side like the one posted. It's a shot to nothing really. He has to try it out and maybe he realises that the passionate Sunderland crowd will get on the players back if we take the game to them. However, there will be 11 Sunderland players out there trying to prevent us from doing this.

I agree, we have to take the game to Sunderland. Sitting back, not pressing and letting teams play their game has proved costly time and time again. We end up chasing the game in the last 20 mins.

Attack from the start, put them under pressure, we have the players to do it and they won't be expecting it.

Riza said in his interview that he will be placing more emphasis on attack from now on. I think he will do that tonight with an attacking side like the one posted. It's a shot to nothing really. He has to try it out and maybe he realises that the passionate Sunderland crowd will get on the players back if we take the game to them. However, there will be 11 Sunderland players out there trying to prevent us from doing this.

I agree, we have to take the game to Sunderland. Sitting back, not pressing and letting teams play their game has proved costly time and time again. We end up chasing the game in the last 20 mins.

Attack from the start, put them under pressure, we have the players to do it and they won't be expecting it.

Exactly this. Now is not the time to p1ss about. We need to mix up our game, get the ball forward quickly, get more crosses in and just show greater aggression.

Goals win matches and we do not score enough currently. Obviously that has to change, starting from today, if we are to pull away from the relegation places.

458 Cardiff fans away today