CARDIFF HOST LATICS

Cardiff City return to the Welsh Capital as they host Ryan Lowe's Wigan Athletic.

Yousef Salech celebrating.

The Opposition:

Wigan are the draw specialists in League One. The Latics have struggled for consistency and find themselves firmly in mid table at the half way point in the season.

Lowe’s tactics are built around a 3-5-2 formation, focusing on wing-backs for width, quick transitions, and central overloads to dominate possession. His teams aim to play attacking, front-foot football with fluid movement and aggressive pressing out of possession.

The Latics sit fourteenth ahead of this one, and could move as high as ninth with a victory in the Welsh Capital.

The Bluebirds:

City come into this one on the back of a frustrating draw at Wycombe. Chris Willock opened the scoring with an excellent finish in the opening stages of the game. Cardiff were however pegged back just before half-time, when Caolan Boyd-Munce scored directly from a corner.

A Brian Barry-Murphy side could counter Lowe and Wigan by keeping the ball, pulling the wing-backs out, and attacking the empty wide spaces quickly. Someone like Isaak Davies could be essential to doing this.

Opposition Player to Watch:

Callum Wright in action.

Callum Wright has really grown into a Wigan shirt in the last month or two, becoming a key player for The Latics. Wright is a high-energy, creative central/attacking midfielder who links play, presses well, and looks to drive attacks with progressive passes and late runs rather than pure goal scoring.

The midfielder's career started with Leicester City. After two loan moves to Cheltenham Town, Wright would complete a permanent move to Blackpool in 2022. After just half a season at The Seasiders, Wright join Plymouth Argyle on a permanent deal. The 25 year-old completed a loan move to Wigan in the summer, where he's contributed with four goals and two assists so far this season.

Last Meeting:

Wigan Athletic 0-2 Cardiff City (2025)

Perry Ng celebrating.

It was a routine win for City when these two sides met back in September. The win closed what was a hugely successful month on the road for City.

Perry Ng opened the scoring after a well-worked move, before Yousef Salech sealed things in the final moments of the game from the penalty spot.

Team News:

Cardiff City - Rubin Colwill and Eli King remain out injured for The Bluebirds.

Wigan Athletic - Matt Smith suspended for Wigan. Babajide Adeeko and Jason Kerr out injured. Paul Mullin expected to miss out.

Preferred XI:

GK - Nathan Trott

RB - Perry Ng

RCB - Dylan Lawlor

LCB - Gabriel Osho

LB - Joel Bagan

CDM - David Turnbull

CM - Alex Robertson

CAM - Omari Kellyman

RW - Cian Ashford

LW - Chris Willock

ST - Yousef Salech

Score Prediction:

Cardiff City 2-1 Wigan Athletic