BLUEBIRDS LOOK TO BUILD ON DERBY DAY SUCCESS

The Bluebirds look to build on their Derby Day success from the weekend as Coventry are the visitors this evening at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Jak Alnwick celebrating against Swansea City

The Opposition:

The Sky Blues have had a mixed start to the season as they sit 15th after six games. Mark Robins have only won one of their opening six and have drawn their last four coming into this fixture. Coventry lost key men Gustavo Hamer and Viktor Gyokeres in the summer but money from those transfers was reinvested in Haji Wright from Antalyaspor, Luis Binks from Bologna, Yasin Ayari from Brighton, Liam Kitching from Barnsley, Milan van Ewjik from SC Heerenveen, Bobby Thomas from Burnley, Joel Latibeaudiere from Swansea, Bradley Collins from Barnsley, Tatsuhiro Sakamoto from Oostende, Ellis Simms from Everton and Jay Dasilva from Bristol City.

Mark Robins has based his style of play at Coventry on getting the best out of his players as opposed to an overarching tactical philosophy. Coventry go long from goal kicks as they push their players as close together as possible, this helps Robins' side to win many second balls. Due to Haji Wright's impressive hold-up play, it allows The Sky Blues to switch from defence to attack quickly, Wright has filled the Gyokeres role decently so far this season. In attack, it's a mixture of speed, movement and precision, the attacking midfielder (typically Kasey Palmer) and both box-to-box midfielders (Typically Ben Sheaf and Josh Eccles) join the two strikers (Typically Haji Wright and Matty Godden) in the final third, creating an overload for Mark Robins side.

The Bluebirds:

It was a good weekend for The Bluebirds this weekend as they beat arch-rivals Swansea convincingly 2-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium. The Bluebirds will look to carry that on as they look for their third Championship home win of the season.

I could see The Bluebirds setting up similarly to the Swansea game, not necessarily dominating possession, but having enough of the ball to hurt Coventry and to create a good amount of chances.

Jonathan Panzo is still looking for his first start of the season against his former club, as both Rubin Colwill and Callum Robinson will be pushing for their first Championship starts of the season.

Teams News:

Cardiff City - Cardiff are expected to make two or three changes from the team that faced Swansea on the weekend. Callum O'Dowda is still out.

Coventry City - Ben Sheaf and Callum O'Hare will be missing for the visitors. Joel Latibeaudiere and Kasey Palmer are expected to be back fully fit. Jamie Allen fit to return. Fabio Tavares out.

Preferred XI:

GK - Jak Alnwick

LB - Jamilu Collins

LCB - Jonathan Panzo

RCB - Dimitrios Goutas

RB - Perry Ng

LDM - Joe Ralls

RDM - Manolis Siopis

CAM - Callum Robinson

LW - Karlan Grant

RW - Ollie Tanner

ST - Yakou Meite

Prediction:

Cardiff City 2-1 Coventry City

I could see The Bluebirds gaining some momentum from the Derby win and therefore winning this evening. I could see The Bluebirds taking the lead then getting pegged back before scoring in the second half to gain all three points.

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