Sheffield United will attempt to get back to winning ways on Saturday in South Wales against the struggling Cardiff City.
United have won 10pts from their last five games, but after destroying 1st place Burnley at Bramall Lane, they fell to an embarrassing defeat against Rotherham United on Tuesday night. Ultimately, this stopped the Blades from regaining the top spot.
Meanwhile, Cardiff City has taken 6pts from their last five matches, and under Mark Hudson, they have averaged 1.3 points per game, as they sit in 18th place – 4pts above the drop zone.
Here is how I think the Bluebirds will line up on Saturday against United:
As you’d expect for a team that plays a front three, Cardiff tends to hold their width pretty well. And for a team that holds its width, you’d expect them to excel in one-vs-one situations – which is exactly the case. Cardiff averages 7.65 successful dribbles per game, 5th-most in the league.
Teams that play a front three also tend to use through balls as an avenue of attack, and Cardiff has played the 10th-most through balls in the league so far. With the pace and direct running ability in their front three, this is no surprise.
The Bluebirds are the 4th-worst side in the division in terms of non-penalty expected goals – meaning they don’t create many high-quality opportunities.
Callum Robinson and Callum O’Dowda create on average one goal-creating action per game that they play. Robinson is also a common target for Cardiff City to progress the ball up the field, registering a high number of received progressive passes – 6.35 per game.
Joe Ralls has been a reliable playmaker for the Bluebirds for a few years now, and it has been the same case this season. The midfielder averages 3.19 shot-creating actions – a large proportion of those are via in-play passes from crossing and passing combinations in the final third.
Cardiff City has scored the second-lowest number of goals in the Championship with 17.
I’m backing United to win this game. I believe we will see a big reaction after the terrible performance on Tuesday night. Cardiff has players that could trouble United in transition, but their poor creative numbers don’t read well. Considering that Cardiff has one of the worst aerial win percentages in the league, set pieces could work well for the Blades this weekend.