Preview: Cardiff City vs. Bristol City - prediction, team news, lineups

Severnside rivals Cardiff City and Bristol City face off in South Wales on Saturday afternoon for the 100th time in all competitions.

Cardiff have made a better start to the 2021-22 campaign than their opponents, collecting double the number of points than Bristol City's four.

Match preview

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The Bluebirds' unbeaten start to the season was ended by Brighton & Hove Albion in midweek, with the Premier League side earning a deserved 2-0 win in the EFL Cup second-round tie.

Mick McCarthy will not be too disheartened by that loss, however, as his side have started their league campaign well with two draws and two victories to date.

Cardiff followed up a draw against Barnsley with three points against Blackpool, and likewise when seeing off Millwall 3-1 a few days on from drawing 2-2 at Peterborough United.

Incredibly, all eight of City's goals in the league this season have come via headers, with Aden Flint responsible for half of those, making him the division's top scorer.

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Bristol City have made a rather slow start by comparison, though that is not all that surprising given the work Nigel Pearson has had to do during the close season.

The Robins were pegged back late on by Blackpool on the opening weekend of the season and followed that up with defeat away to Middlesbrough.

Pearson's charges got off the mark with a 3-2 victory against Reading on August 17, but their momentum was halted with a 1-0 loss to Cardiff's bitter rivals Swansea City last week.

City have won only once in their last 14 Championship fixtures, although that did come in their most recent away match at Reading.

Pearson, meanwhile, has lost five of his seven away matches against Cardiff in all competitions, with his only win coming in the 2009-10 Championship playoffs with Leicester City.

Team News

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McCarthy made seven changes to Cardiff's starting lineup for the midweek loss to Brighton and should revert back to a similar lineup to the one that started against Millwall.

Ryan Giles has made a flying start to his loan spell from Wolverhampton Wanderers, assisting four goals in four appearances, and is among those who were fully rested on Tuesday.

Questions remain over Kieffer Moore's future beyond the end of the transfer window, but McCarthy looks certain to start the Welsh striker this weekend.

As for the visitors, Pearson is likely to make at least a couple of changes following the disappointing home loss to Swansea last week.

Right-back Zak Vyner and attacking midfielder Kasey Palmer are in contention to return to the side, which should be spearheaded by Chris Martin.

Adam Nagy will once again be overlooked for selection on Saturday as he is closing in on a move away from Ashton Gate. Callum O'Dowda and Joe Williams are also absent.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Phillips; Morrison, Flint, Nelson; Sang, Ralls, Pack, Bagan; Giles, Moore, Colwill

Bristol City possible starting lineup:
Bentley; Vyner, Kalas, Atkinson, Dasilva; Massengo, James; Scott, Palmer, Weimann; Martin

We say: Cardiff City 0-1 Bristol City

Cardiff have made a brighter start to the season, though they suffered defeat in the EFL Cup in midweek, whereas Bristol City have had an eight-day rest between games.

The away side has won the last four league games between Cardiff and Bristol City, meanwhile, with each win coming with a clean sheet, and we are predicting that to continue here.