MATCH THREAD: " CARDIFF CITY v STOKE CITY " MATCH THREAD

CARDIFF CITY v STOKE CITY
Saturday 22nd April, 3pm
Sky Bet Championship
Cardiff City Stadium 





LETS GET A FULL HOUSE / ITS PAY ON THE DAY

ITS PAY ON THE DAY / 3PM / THIS SATURDAY


Cardiff City: Allsop; Ng, McGuinness, Kipre; Romeo, Wintle, Sawyers, Ralls, O'Dowda; Etete, Kaba.

Subs: Alnwick, Simpson, Rinomhota, Philogene, Ojo, Harris, Davies.




SABRI LAMOUCHI:

NEW INJURY UPDATE:



Connor Wickham is set to miss the visit of the Potters with a hamstring issue,which could put him out for the rest of this season as it’s thought the injury will keep him out between 3-6 weeks.




"Callum Robinson, Rubin Colwill and Connor Wickham will not be available for tomorrow. Jack Simpson, Jaden Philogene and Callum O'Dowda, we will see today.”




Updated:

Philogene will be available

Colwill looking likely to be available



TEAM NEWS:


Sabri Lamouchi:

Philogene and Simpson are still doubts: "We are looking again today at Jaden Philogene and Jack Simpson," Lamouchi said of the players who are doubtful for Stoke City. "One of them, it's his knee and the other is his shoulder."

Ebou Adams is getting there and now getting fit with the U21’S.

Callum Robinson is out and looks out for the season.

Collins is also out for the season.



The Bluebirds go into the game with a fairly clean bill of health but youngster Rubin Colwill could be a doubt due to a hip injury .Cardiff manager Sabri Lamouchi has said that he will speak to the club's medical team before making any decision.





Can I stream or watch the match on TV?

This match is live on Cardiff City TV

The Opposition's Manager - Alex Neil

Neil was appointed Stoke manager in August, after getting Sunderland promoted to the Championship via the League One play-offs last season.

He previously had spells in charge of Hamilton, Preston and Norwich, where he got them promoted to the Premier League via the play-offs.

Opposition Dangerous Players

Jacob Brown has seven goals and an assist this season

Josh Laurent is a player Cardiff City were previously linked with

Previous Meeting 

We drew 2-2 at Stoke in December

Team News - Predicted Line-Ups

Cardiff City: Allsop, Romeo, Ng, McGuinness, Kipre, O'Dowda, Ralls, Wintle, Rinomhota, Etete, Kaba

Stoke City: Bonham, Sterling, Taylor, Fox, Tymon, Thompson, Baker, Laurent, Brown, Celina, Powell

Form - Last Three Competitive Games

Watford 1-3 Cardiff City
Sheffield United 4-1 Cardiff City
Cardiff City 0-1 Sunderland

Stoke City 0-1 Wigan Athletic
Stoke City 1-2 West Bromwich Albion
Birmingham City 0-0 Stoke City

Match Odds

Cardiff City - 13/8
Stoke City - 13/8
Draw - 23/10

Predictions

Post your predictions below 

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MY VIEW:

I agree with Sabri 100%, the Cardiff City stadium should be packed this Saturday, bouncing, this is when fans should show they are fully behind their club and team.
Other clubs fans would get massive crowds for such a vital game.

It’s a Saturday, 3pm, not on tv and not expensive tickets abd it’s pay on the day






SABRI LAMOUCHI:


“It's a massive result,” Sabri began. “The beginning wasn't good, but we came back and won.”

“There is little rest for City or other clubs,On Saturday afternoon, we welcome Stoke City to South Wales for another colossal clash.”


“I liked the communion with our fans at the end tonight. It's an important game on Saturday, and that's why I'd like to see Cardiff City Stadium full because for our fans, for our players and for the Club, these three points at home could be so important for us.”


“I want the fans to fill the stadium, the players and club we need them.”





Reading minus 6pts

Wigan minus 3pts

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ONLY 4 GAMES LEFT:



Sat Apr 22 – Stoke City (H)


Sky: Thursday 27th 8pm April Rotherham United v Cardiff City Crowd Away Support ( )


Sky: Sun Apr 30- 12pm Huddersfield Town (H)



Sat May 6 – Burnley (A)





Reading minus 6pts

Wigan minus 3pts

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TEAM NEWS:


Sabri Lamouchi:

Philogene and Simpson are still doubts: "We are looking again today at Jaden Philogene and Jack Simpson," Lamouchi said of the players who are doubtful for Stoke City. "One of them, it's his knee and the other is his shoulder."

Ebou Adams is getting there and now getting fit with the U21’S.

Callum Robinson is out and looks out for the season.

Collins is also out for the season.



The Bluebirds go into the game with a fairly clean bill of health but youngster Rubin Colwill could be a doubt due to a hip injury .Cardiff manager Sabri Lamouchi has said that he will speak to the club's medical team before making any decision.

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Updated:

Philogene will be available

Colwill looking likely to be available

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Well its an easy one, if you support the City, be there make a noise, dont get on players backs as its a 90 minutes plus game, and we want them motivated right to the end.

Well its an easy one, if you support the City, be there make a noise, dont get on players backs as its a 90 minutes plus game, and we want them motivated right to the end.

Well said! Let's do our bit!

3-1 again,I think we will win back to back games and hopefully other results work out in our favour too.

SABRI LAMOUCHI:

NEW INJURY UPDATE:


"Callum Robinson, Rubin Colwill and Connor Wickham will not be available for tomorrow. Jack Simpson, Jaden Philogene and Callum O'Dowda, we will see today.”

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Stoke City boss Alex Neil has explained that noticing a ‘dip’ in the second half performances of some players was his reason for making changes to his starting XI against Wigan.

The Potters lost the midweek Championship clash at the Bet365 Stadium 1-0 after making a total of six changes. The result means that Stoke’s home woes continue this season with the side winless in their last four home outings.

In contrast the away form has been better, a trip to Cardiff City sees Stoke try and extend an unbeaten five match run away from home. The club are at the stage of the season where they neither have relegation fears hanging over them, a positive run of results earlier in the year moving them up the table.

I'd go as close to the Watford starting XI as I could and allow those players to show us it wasn't a one-off...

The only exception might be the reintroduction of Jaden Philogene-Bidace but what a weapon to have on the bench ready to come on, if needs be...

Connor Wickham is set to miss the visit of the Potters with a hamstring issue,which could pit him out for the rest of this season as it’s thought the injury will keep him out between 3-6 weeks.

Stoke City boss Alex Neil has hinted he could mix things up for the trip to Cardiff City on Saturday.

Neil made a number of alterations for the recent clash against Wigan, and says he could well tinker his line-up once again.

Jacob Brown and Ben Wilmot will definitely be out due to injury, but there could be further changes.

“We may need to think about a couple of little bits. I think that most teams will be in the same bracket."

"Some of the younger players will be given a chance , as a lot of players are tired."

"When you've got injuries or whatever to key players, they’ve got guys who have had a long season, maybe it’s their first season at this level and they’re starting to drop off a bit. But I still believe we’ve got more than enough to go and compete and go and do well, and I expect that to be the case in the game.”

I worry about energy levels for this one. Having Philogene back will be crucial.A win could effectively keep us up. I will still take a draw now though.

After spending the best part of seven months in 21st, just one perilous place above the relegation zone, Cardiff City's climb up to 19th has brought a feeling of relative calm - but how safe are Sabri Lamouchi's side with four games still to play?

They head into the weekend with 45 points with 42 games played. And that is the Bluebirds' most obvious advantage in the final stretch: they have played one fewer game than every team below them, which means one more opportunity to get points on the board.

Despite the game in hand, Lamouchi has made it clear he would prefer points on the board over anything else.

Thankfully Reading are minus 6pts and Wigan minus 3pts.


SABRI LAMOUCHI:

"Here we didn't want to play well, we just wanted the points to save the club," he told reporters after the Watford win.

Today Cardiff host Stoke City, before heading to relegation rivals Rotherham on Thursday after the original fixture was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch with the Bluebirds ahead 1-0.


City will finish their league campaign with a home tie against Huddersfield on April 30 and a visit to already-promoted and prospective champions Burnley on May 8.

But Lamouchi's men can guarantee they finish no lower than 22nd with a win against Stoke. Even if Blackpool and Wigan win all of their remaining games, they would finish on 47 and 46 points respectively, with Cardif out of reach on 48.

That would leave only Reading to worry about - and this is where fans may want to get their calculators out.

A disastrous points deduction puts the Royals on 43 points with just three games left to play. If they achieve maximum points from these games, they will finish with 52 points.

So, assuming the best-case scenario for Reading, Cardif would need eight more points to guarantee survival in the second tier. These could come from two wins and two draws, or three wins.

If Reading draw against play-off hopefuls Coventry today, their highest possible points tally would be 50, requiring six points - two wins, or one win and three draws - for Cardiff to be mathematically safe.

If Reading lose, they could only finish with as many as 49 points - and defeat does seem likely, with the Royals enduring a torrid time of 10 games without a win, a points deduction and the loss of manager Paul Ince.

A Reading loss and Cardiff victory would take the Bluebirds within three points of safety, meaning they could finish the job at Rotherham on Thursday.


Any battle is about momentum - and the longer Reading extend their joyless run without a win, the less likely they are to manage a positive result. Three games may not be enough to turn their fortunes around.

Cardiff, on the other hand, will have been revived by the win against Watford in midweek and know their fate is in their hands.

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Lamouchi in the matchday programme



"The celebrations between the players and fans in midweek at th eend of the game was once again very special to be a part of.

"The support throughout the match in fact was fantastic and, as you know, the players are going to need that from you today and in the remaining games of the season.

"I've told the players they must trust and believe in themselves. We must all trust and believe in them, too."

Sabri Lamouchi

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Cardiff City: Allsop; Ng, McGuinness, Kipre; Romeo, Wintle, Sawyers, Ralls, O'Dowda; Etete, Kaba.

Subs: Alnwick, Simpson, Rinomhota, Philogene, Ojo, Harris, Davies.

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BLUEBIRDS

O'Dowda with a ball down the line to Kaba, who earns a throw-in inside Stoke's half.

Stoke seeing a lot of the ball early on. Allsop collects from a poor headed pass from Connor Taylor

Etete looks like he's running down a blind alley, but does well in the end to earn City a throw-in.

Ng has that perfect angle for a cross that he likes - the diagonal into the striker - but he overhits his effort to Etete. Goal kick to Stoke.

Stoke slice Cardiff open there with a couple of incisive passes. O'Dowda does well to stop Hoever driving into the box. The Canton sing his name to show their appreciation, because that looked dangerous for a second or two.

Some neat work from Ng and Etete there and the striker looks to drive inside - but is stopped before he can pull the trigger.

Smallbone with a dangerous cross, but it evades everyone. Romeo has to diving header it behind with Stoke players rushing it at the back post.

0-1


GOAL! Cardiff City 0-1 Stoke City (Laurent 16)
Goal for Stoke. Superb header from Josh Laurent from Will Smallbone's corner. He outjumps both Etete and McGuinness to send it into the far corner. Cardiff trail.

0-1

Far too easy.

Took 15 minutes today rather than the 10 minutes on Wednesday, small improvement I guess.

Pathetic ponderous start yet again. It's a disgrace how we start games

Why are we sitting back and watching them play, what’s going on?! Great midweek performance and I thought it would given us a spark today. Terrible start!