The Bluebirds remain in the Welsh capital as they host John Mousinho's Portsmouth.
The Opposition:
Portsmouth had a somewhat of plain-sailing 23/24 season, as they finally achieved promotion back to the Championship after a thirteen year absence.
Pompey have recruited fairly heavily as they hope to maintain their Championship status, John Mousinho has added Ibane Bowat from Fulham, Nicolas Schmid from Blau Weiss Linz, Andre Dozzell from QPR, Matt Ritchie from Newcastle, Jordan Williams from Barnsley, Jacob Farrell from Central Coast, Harvey Blair from Liverpool, Elias Sorensen from Esbjerg, Abdoulaye Kamara from Borussia Dortmund, Josh Murphy from Oxford, Freddie Potts from West Ham, Mark O'Mahony from Brighton, Sam Silvera from Middlesbrough, Jordan Archer from QPR and Reuben Swann from Sudbury.
The core principles we have seen from Mousinho’s time in charge at Fratton Park.
Short & patient build-up, Intense pressing, Switching the play, Dominating possession, High defensive line, Wide triangles and Set-piece domination. Mousinho likes his team to build from the back in a slow & patient manner, waiting for the opportunity to find passing options that open up by players moving into space or an opposition player jumping out to press the ball-carrier.
The Bluebirds:
Cardiff City come into this one on the back of their biggest win since 2017, with a convincing 5-0 win over Plymouth Argyle. The Bluebirds played with real swagger and real quality to lift them off the bottom of the table.
It will be a difficult game for The Bluebirds, as Pompey will look to get at Cardiff. City will have to recreate what they did so well against Plymouth, pick the pockets, play with swagger, be intense and be clinical.
Team News:
Cardiff City - Manolis Siopis could return for The Bluebirds. Joe Ralls, Aaron Ramsey, Isaak Davies, Kion Etete and Ryotaro Tsunoda remain out.
Portsmouth - Will Norris, Conor Shaughnessy, Ibane Bowat, Jacob Farrell and Colby Bishop all out for the visitors.
Preferred XI:
GK - Jak Alnwick
RB - Perry Ng
RCB - Dimitrios Goutas
LCB - Calum Chambers
LB - Callum O'Dowda
LCM - David Turnbull
RCM - Alex Robertson
CAM - Rubin Colwill
RW - Ollie Tanner
LW - Chris Willock
ST - Callum Robinson
Prediction:
Cardiff City 1-0 Portsmouth
Wilfried Kanga scores. You heard it here first.
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