Swansea v Cardiff
Saturday March 20, 17:30
Sky Sports
Swansea suffer in midweek
Swansea supremo Steve Cooper admitted his side got what they deserved after their poor defensive showing proved costly at Bournemouth in midweek. The hosts ran out comfortable 3-0 winners at The Vitality Stadium on Tuesday thanks to strikes from Philip Billing and Arnaut Danjuma along with Joel Latibeaudiere's own goal.
The Swans' defending for the goals was uncharacteristically poor. And Cooper said his side paid the price for failing to do the basics in their own box. He said, "The first two goals were everything that I don't want the team to be and the players will know that. In the end we have defended poorly on the goals and not done enough in their box to threaten."
Defeat leaves Swansea three points behind second placed Watford with 10 matches left to play this season - although Cooper's side boast a game in-hand over the Hornets as they continue to eye up a potential automatic promotion place. However, there's been signs of fatigue in recent weeks and Saturday's showdown will be City's 10th game in 31 days.
Cardiff fail to fire
Mick McCarthy confessed that Cardiff's lacklustre first-half performance against Stoke on Tuesday night led him to read his players the riot act for the first time since becoming manager. The Bluebirds got off to a poor and disjointed start against the Potters and it led to the visitors having the lion's share of decent chances before the break.
Perry Ng's goal-line clearance just about kept Cardiff on terms as they failed to lay a glove on Michael O'Neill's side before the break. And McCarthy admitted he told his side in no uncertain terms just what he thought of that first 45 minutes during the half-time interval. He said, "I wasn't happy. I thought the performance was way below what we have set our standards at and we needed to up it."
Cardiff improved after the interval and were the better side in the final 45 minutes, but still struggled to pinch a decisive strike in the 0-0 stalemate. Kieffer Moore did have two gilt-edged opportunities as the game drew to a close - a one-on-one, plus an unchallenged, volleyed attempt from 15 yards which strayed wide of the mark - on a frustrating night.
Last season's contests were the first fixtures between Cardiff and Swansea since the pair crossed swords during their Premier League days in 2013/14. The two tussles were tight affairs with the Swans pinching the only goal over the two games; add in the hosts' 2-0 victory in the reverse in December and Swansea are now W7-D5-L3 in the last 15 meetings.
Swansea 2.6613/8 suffered only a seventh league loss of the season (W20-D9-L7) on Tuesday night, shipping multiple goals for only the sixth occasion in 2020/21. Nevertheless, there have been signs of tiredness in Steve Cooper's camp of late with performance levels dipping. The hosts have W4-D1-L3 in their last eight, only twice scoring two goals or more.
Cardiff 3.002/1 have picked up 26 points since Mick McCarthy took charge, moving the Bluebirds into play-off contention (W7-D5-L1). However, forward momentum has stalled in recent weeks with the Bluebirds boasting W1-D3-L1 over their past five fixtures. The guests have W3-D6-L6 against the top-10 although have posted a strong W8-D6-L4 road record.
Five of the most recent seven head-to-heads between Cardiff and Swansea have produced no more than a sole goal, as at least one side has failed to score in all seven of those showdowns since 2010. Unsurprisingly, Under 2.5 Goals has been chalked up at a short 1.574/7, although 'No' in the Both Teams To Score column is a more appetising 1.804/5.
The second-tier continues to post underwhelming goal returns and considering the high stakes of a South Wales derby, plus the duos recent form, as well as the state of play in the battle for promotion to the Premier League, opposing goals appears the most obvious angle of attack.
Backing BTTS No has paid out in 11/18 (61%) of Swansea's outings at the Liberty Stadium and should again go close in what's anticipated to be another tight, attritional and low-scoring derby dust-up.