Cardiff v Blackburn: Tight capital clash on the cards

Cardiff battle for a point

Mark Hudson's first game as interim manager of Cardiff ended in a 1-1 draw as Callum Robinson's late header denied Burnley victory in south Wales. After a quiet first-half devoid of clear-cut chances, the game burst into life in the second half with the Clarets breaking the deadlock three minutes after the restart through the impressive Nathan Tella.

Vincent Kompany's visitors looked to have seen the game out comfortably but, with injury time approaching, Robinson, on his home debut, headed home Mahlon Romeo's cross to earn a share of the spoils for City. Bluebirds supporters sensed a winner thereafter, but substitute forward Max Watters could not capitalise when played through on goal.

Post-match, Hudson hailed Cardiff's never-say-die attitude and spoke of his pride at being asked to take charge on a temporary basis. He said, "I really enjoyed it but let's focus on the team. I thought you saw fight, togetherness, against the best team in the league. To a man, subs, everyone was together, there was a positive mental attitude from everyone."

Blackburn move into the top-six

Second-half goals by Tyrhys Dolan and Ben Brereton Diaz lifted Blackburn into the top-six of the Championship with Rovers securing a 2-1 success against Millwall. Dolan broke the deadlock in a tight game following a mix-up in the Lions' defence early in the second half before Brereton Diaz struck from a corner to extend his side's lead just five minutes later.

Millwall hit back when Jake Cooper headed in Tyler Burey's cross, but Jon Dahl Tomasson's troops always appeared in control of proceedings at Ewood Park, even without a natural right-sided defender in the side. Ryan Hedges operated as a wing-back for Blackburn, whilst forward Sam Gallagher returned from injury to take the place of Hayden Carter in the XI.

Having earned a fourth home triumph this term, Tomasson was understandably pleased with his team's efforts. He said, "It's always great to have a win but I like especially to see those things we've worked on in training being successful. In the first 70 minutes, they didn't have a shot on target, we controlled the game. We could have also scored more."

Competitive contest anticipated

Cardiff are winless in their last seven league showdowns against Blackburn (W0-D3-L4) since 2016 with the Bluebirds suffering defeat in both of last season's Championship clashes. City have returned W3-D2-L2 when welcoming Rovers to the Welsh capital this century, although the hosts have managed to keep their sheets clean just once in that same sample.

Cardiff 2.407/5 have registered only three victories across their opening 11 outings (W3-D5-L5) to sit just two points above the drop-zone, yet the Bluebirds have tended to produce their best work on home soil. The capital club have W2-D2-L1 as hosts, recording three shutouts along the way, whilst matches are averaging just 1.87 Expected Goals (xG).

Blackburn 2.8815/8 have also largely relied on home performances with Rovers suffering defeat in three of their most recent four road trips (W1-D0-L3). Jon Dahl Tomasson's outfit were nilled in all three defeats, however, each reverse arrived at clubs currently residing in the top-half. Even so, no second-tier side is generating a lower xG figure after MD11.

Oppose both sides scoring

Entertainment looks unlikely in Cardiff this midweek. The Bluebirds have seen the second-fewest goals per-game in the Championship thus far with just 1.82 goals on average through their 11 league assignments; eight (73%) of those matches featured Under 2.5 Goals 1.695/7 as seven contests saw backers of 'No' in the Both Teams To Score column paid out.

With eight (73%) of Blackburn's battles also banking in the BTTS No department, a repeat holds plenty of appeal at 1.9010/11 on the Sportsbook. It's paid out in all five of Rovers' away days under Jon Dahl Tomasson and has also copped in three of Cardiff's home clashes in 2022/23. Last season it landed in 14/23 (61%) of City's home league ties.