CARDIFF CITY v SUNDERLAND
Saturday 13th January 2018 – Kickoff: 1230hrs
Football – England – Championship
The early kick-off in the Championship on Saturday sees Cardiff City taking on Sunderland at the Cardiff City Stadium with the hosts desperate to rekindle their earlier form following a spate of defeats which is threatening to ruin their promising start to the campaign.
With just three league defeats from their first 22 matches, Cardiff looked serious contenders for automatic promotion under manager, Neil Warnock, but The Bluebirds have gone off the rails in recent times as they’ve slumped to four defeats on the trot.
Losses to Bolton Wanderers, Fulham, Preston North End and QPR means they’ve lost ground on the Championship leaders, Wolves, and they’re now in third place and 14 points adrift. However, all three points on Saturday would see them leapfrog Derby County into second spot, and they still hold a reasonable looking home record of 8-3-2 22/10 despite the recent defeats.
Sunderland dropped down to the bottom of the Championship following a 1-0 defeat at home to Barnsley last time out in the league, and last week’s FA Cup third round exit away at north-east rivals, Middlesbrough, will have done little for the Black Cats’ confidence ahead of this important trip to Wales.
It’s now 10 league matches into new manager, Chris Coleman’s reign at the Stadium of Light, and although there’s been some improvement, his side have still gained only three wins from this 10-match sequence, while there’s plenty of work to do on the road.
Away wins at Burton Albion and Nottingham Forest as well as a 1-0 home win over one of Coleman’s old clubs, Fulham, have provided glimpses of a possible recovery, but they still face a very tough relegation battle, as well as a tough trip against Cardiff City.
Pick: Cardiff City to win @ 1.79 Marathonbet
