Two sides in the bottom half of the league table go head to head in this one, with 14th placed Cardiff City taking on 19th placed Stoke City. For Cardiff, it's quickly becoming like mid table obscurity, while Stoke are only three points off the relegation zone, and need something to keep ahead of danger.
Cardiff Form GuideSome people will point to the drop down the table that Cardiff have suffered recently, but I would add here that this is simply them adjusting to where they should have been all along. Yes, their start was strong, above expectations, and now they're playing below them, but when it's all put together I think it puts them in the right position.
But they haven't won in four, and lost three of them, those are two facts they cannot get away from. They did pick up a draw on Tuesday night, a dreadful game that ended 0-0 at home to Blackburn, another side struggling. Before that, against better opposition, Cardiff lost 4-1 at Norwich, 2-0 at West Brom and 2-0 at home to Preston.
Stoke Form GuideStoke's decision to move on from Alex Neil earlier in the season, and bring Steven Schumacher to the club was one that I liked at the time. But I'm not sure it's going too well now, they've struggled to improve under Schumacher, and still remain in the relegation fight. Just three points ahead of QPR, who are in the drop zone, it's time to start calling Stoke what they are, which is relegation contenders.
Their last six games has seen them take five losses, and win just one. Luckily for them, that win was over QPR, otherwise they'd be in a whole lot more trouble right now. Last weekend, it was a home defeat as Stoke lost 1-0 against Coventry, before that came the win over QPR, something they need to try and use.
Match PredictionThis is such a big game for Stoke, those below them are playing much better, but I'm not backing them to win it. I think this is a case of two teams going head to head who are poor, but neither has the quality to win this, so with that in mind, I will back the draw here.
