On Saturday, Cardiff City will host Sheffield Wednesday in South Wales as two teams look for their first Championship victory of the year.
The hosts have only achieved one draw and are coming off of back-to-back losses, while the visitors are the only team in the division without a point after their first three league games.
Match preview
Despite a relatively positive mood around the club, Cardiff City head into the weekend with just a single point on the board from their opening three matches, having undergone plenty of change over the summer.
Following their survival last term and Sabri Lamouchi‘s exit, Erol Bulut was appointed to lead the Welsh side into the new campaign, and after a busy summer transfer window, they began the Championship season with a tough trip to newly-relegated Leeds United and looked set to come away with all three points from a 2-1 victory, courtesy of first-half debut goals from Josh Bowler and Ike Ugbo.
That was not to be, though, as the Bluebirds were held to a 2-2 draw by a Crysencio Summerville equaliser deep into injury time, before scraping past Colchester United in a penalty shootout in the EFL Cup and falling to a disappointing home defeat to Queens Park Rangers in their second league outing, with Ugbo’s 78th-minute goal not enough to spark a turnaround after Sinclair Armstrong and Kenneth Paal had found the net for their visitors.
Aiming to bounce back from that setback and record a first Championship win under their new boss, Cardiff most recently faced another tough test away at promotion-hopefuls Leicester City on Saturday, and they again suffered late disappointment, initially looking set to leave with a commendable point thanks to Aaron Ramsey‘s long-range equaliser on the stroke of half time, only for Cesare Casadei to net a 92nd-minute winner to continue the hosts’ perfect start to the term.
While it can certainly be argued that the Bluebirds’ results have not reflected their positive displays thus far, Bulut’s men will certainly be keen to prevent the winless start from growing any further and score a first three-point haul of the campaign on home turf this weekend.
They welcome the only side in the division who are still searching for a first point of the season, with Sheffield Wednesday having struggled on their return to the Championship after winning promotion through the League One playoffs under the management of Darren Moore last time around.
He departed over the summer and successor Xisco Munoz was tasked with leading the Owls, who began with a tough test at home to Southampton and only suffered a 2-1 defeat as a result of Che Adams‘s late winner, after Lee Gregory had netted an equaliser early in the second half.
They would then progress in the EFL Cup with a penalty shootout triumph over Stockport County, after Tyreeq Bakinson‘s last-gasp leveller, but the South Yorkshire side’s efforts to carry that into a league win did not go well, as a trip to Hull City ended in a 4-2 defeat despite going ahead through Juan Delgado, as Ozan Tufan hit an unanswered hat-trick and Aaron Connolly added a fourth for their hosts before Michael Smith netted a late consolation.
Wounded from a more disappointing result than in their curtain-raiser, the Owls then returned to Hillsborough last weekend to host Preston North End, but pressure has continued to build as they again came away empty-handed, with Liam Lindsay‘s headed goal early in the second half being the only difference in a 1-0 away win.
With confidence in the Owls camp bound to have quickly dropped after last season’s promotion, they will be desperate to quickly correct their form and avoid being cut adrift, starting with what would be an important victory on their travels this weekend.
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Cardiff City will come into Saturday’s contest with a similar starting XI to the one that was fielded away at Leicester City given their commendable performance, although Bulut will be unable to call on full-back Mahlon Romeo, who is suspended after being sent off in the dying minutes, with Perry Ng hoping to return to contention in time to fill the gap in the back four.
Following his return to the club over the summer, after time away with Arsenal, Juventus, and Nice, Aaron Ramsey netted his first goal of the campaign from range in their eventual defeat to Leicester, and he should again start at the tip of the midfield unit alongside Joe Ralls and Ryan Wintle.
There is plenty of competition to start in attack, with Callum O’Dowda and Josh Bowler having started either side of summer signing Ike Ugbo, who has already found the net twice in the Championship this term, last time out, while Callum Robinson and fellow new arrivals Yakou Meite and Karlan Grant are vying to come in from the outset.
Xisco Munoz, meanwhile, may look to make more alterations to his Sheffield Wednesday team on Saturday, and he will be unable to call on midfielder Momo Diaby, who sustained an injury on his Owls debut last time out, meaning Will Vaulks and Tyreeq Bakinson will fight to come in in the engine room, likely alongside George Byers and behind captain Barry Bannan.
They also have plenty of competition for attacking spots, with summer signings Juan Delgado and Anthony Musaba having flanked lone striker Lee Gregory against Preston, while Michael Smith, Josh Windass, Ashley Fletcher and Djeidi Gassama, who recently arrived from Paris Saint-Germain, are all vying for starting berths.
Fellow summer arrival Bambo Diaby was deployed alongside Dominic Iorfa at the heart of a back four last time out, with Michael Ihiekwe having to settle for a spot on the bench, and that partnership could again be fielded in front of AC Milan loanee Devis Vasquez between the sticks, while Akin Famewo has established himself as the first-choice left-back at Hillsborough.
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Ng, McGuinness, Goutas, Collins; Wintle, Ralls; Bowler, Ramsey, O’Dowda; Ugbo
Sheffield Wednesday possible starting lineup:
Vasquez; Palmer, Diaby, Iorfa, Famewo; Byers, Bakinson; Paterson, Bannan, Windass; Gregory
We say: Cardiff City 2-0 Sheffield Wednesday
Cardiff City have arguably been better than their results so far this season suggest, while the visiting Owls are yet to find their form on their return to the Championship, and we envisage a first league win of the season for Bulut’s side as a result.
