Match Preview: Cardiff City

CARDIFF CITY STADIUM | 19:45 KO

So close to automatics yet so far. We didn’t really deserve to go up automatically however I feel like Scott has finally worked out the players that he can trust. It has been a steep learning curve for our coach but he has defiantly improved as the season has gone on.

However, the Playoffs will be his biggest challenge yet. We come into this game on the back of a seven-match unbeaten run while Cardiff have won there last three games. We play away from home first which we did the last time we were in the playoffs and that ended quite well.

For the team news, I would make two changes to the team that drew with Wigan. The first change I would make is bringing Reed back into the side for Arter. Reed has been brilliant recently and After hasn’t been consistent enough to warrant a place in the team. The other change I would make is benching Knockaert and bring Kamara in on the right-wing. His pace will be a huge asset to us and it is great to have him fit again. Pretty embarrassing that we spent £40 on Decordova-Reid, Knockaert and Cavaleiro and our best wingers have been players that were already at the club.

I think we will win the first leg 1-0 with a goal from Kamara.


Head To Head

  • Fulham Wins – 28
  • Draws – 13
  • Cardiff Wins – 25
  • Goals For – 104
  • Goals Against – 97
  • Biggest Wins – Fulham 4-0 Cardiff (1931/32), Fulham 4-0 Cardiff (1948/49), Fulham 1-5 Cardiff (1968/69), Fulham 4-0 Cardiff (1974/75), Cardiff 0-4 Fulham (1983/84)

Last 5 Games

  • Fulham 2-0 Cardiff
  • Cardiff 1-1 Fulham
  • Fulham 1-0 Cardiff
  • Cardiff 4-2 Fulham
  • Cardiff 2-4 Fulham

Last Time Out

Fulham 2-0 Cardiff

In our last encounter with Cardiff we won 2-0 at Craven Cottage. Mitrovic opened the scoring in the 35th minute from the penalty spot after he was pulled to the floor from Saunderson. Josh Onomah then doubled our lead firing into the bottom corner after a Johansen reverse pass. We were denied another penalty late on as the ref failed to spot a clear handball in the box. That means in both games this season against Cardiff we have had penalty claims that haven’t been given by the ref. Will this streak continue on Monday?


Players in Common 

Harry Arter, Bobby Brown, Richard Carpenter, Kagisho Dikgacoi, Jeff Eckhardt, Neil Etheridge, Kerim Frei, Julian Gray, Mark Grew, Heidar Helguson, Mark Hudson, Junichi Inamoto, Eddie Johnson, Mark Kelly, Peter Kitchen, Joe Lewis, Scott Malone, Ross McCormack, Brian McDermott, Chris Pike, Bobby Reid, Jazz Richards, Kieran Richardson, David Roberts, Wayne Routledge, Phil Stant, Mark Walton, Alan Warboys, Tony Warner, Paul Went.


Score Predictions

Fulham View: Jmac (Fulham Focus Podcast Host)

Cardiff 1 – 2 Fulham

Former Player: Ara Bedrossian

Cardiff 1 – 2 Fulham


Battle To Watch

Neeskens Kebano vs Leandro Bacuna

Since joining in the summer of 2019 Leandro Bacuna has played an important role. Despite being a midfielder by trade Bacuna is very versatile and can play in a lot of positions. Neil Harris has used his versatility and in the past three matches has been paying the experienced midfielder at right-back. Having not made any mistakes in these games I think he will keep his place in the team and come up against the inform Kebano. Kebano has scored three in his last two and has looked very dangerous going forward recently. This battle may well help decide the outcome of this game.


PREDICTED LINE-UP