FA CUP FIRST ROUND ARRIVES

ccfcinsider
Oct 31
3 min read

Cardiff City switch their attention to the FA Cup as they travel to The Weston Homes Stadium to face Luke Williams' Peterborough United.

The Opposition:

Posh had an inconsistent 24/25 season which saw them lingering near the bottom of the table, with an 18th place finish. After a poor start to the season, Darren Ferguson was dismissed and replaced by Luke Williams.

Ferguson oversaw the summer business, with Peterborough adding Declan Frith from Swiss side FC Thun, Brandon Khela from Birmingham City, Sam Hughes from Stockport County, Alex Bass from Notts County, David Okagube from Walsall, Vincente Reyes from Norwich, Klaidi Lolos from Bolton, Kyrell Lisbie from Braintree Town, Tom O'Connor from Wrexham, Matthew Garbett from NAC Breda, Harry Leonard from Blackburn Rovers, Jimmy-Jay Morgan from Chelsea, Ben Woods from Accrington Stanley, Tom Lees from Huddersfield Town, Jacob Mendy from Wrexham and Peter Kioso from Oxford United.

Williams likes his centre backs to start the attacks, playing out from the back in the ‘proper’ way. A pattern with Williams' sides is that the ball tends to remain on the ground, with heavy reliance on building play. He likes his wing backs to start high up the pitch and press. Taking advantage of the high starting position, Williams' sides are able to transition into attack quickly. Williams' sides love pressing through the lines.

The Bluebirds:

Cardiff come into this one on the back of an impressive 2-1 win over Wrexham. Goals from Yousef Salech and Will Fish earnt City a Quarter Final meeting with Premier League giants Chelsea.

City could be successful by controlling possession patiently to draw them out, then exploiting the spaces left behind their aggressive press. City's fluid positional rotations could disrupt Williams’ structured pressing traps and create high-quality chances through overloads.

Opposition Player to Watch:

Matthew Garbett has caught the eye since his summer move from Eredivisie outfit NAC Breda. Garbett is a dynamic, box-to-box midfielder who blends high work rate and ball-carrying ability with creativity and intelligent pressing.

The midfielder began his career with Western Suburbs. After loan moves to Eastern Suburbs and Team Wellington, Garbett completed a permanent move to Falkenbergs FF. After a year in Sweden, Garbett completed a move to Serie A side Torino. Just one appearance in a season and a half followed, leading to Garbett joining NAC Breda on loan, where he would eventually make a permanent switch. After two and a half seasons in Holland, Garbett completed a permanent move to Peterborough United. The New Zealand international has two goals so far this season.

Last Meeting:

Cardiff City 2-1 Peterborough United (2025)

It has been just ninety days since these two sides last met, on the opening day of the season. Cardiff ran out 2-1 leaders on the day.

Peterborough took the lead as Bradley Ihionvien dispatched a penalty. Rubin Colwill equalled the game with a stunner, before Ronan Kpakio confirmed all three points for City with his first senior goal for City.

Team News:

Cardiff City - Callum Robinson a doubt for City. Ollie Tanner, Chris Willock and Eli King remain out injured for The Bluebirds.

Peterborough United - Jacob Mendy, Cian Hayes and George Nevett out for the hosts.

Preferred XI:

GK - Matt Turner

RB - Perry Ng

RCB - Calum Chambers

LCB - Gabriel Osho

LB - Luey Giles

CDM - Alex Robertson

RCM - David Turnbull

LCM - Omari Kellyman