Cardiff City vs Blackburn Rovers Prediction: Home win on the cards

Two sides who suffered midweek defeat meet in Wales on Saturday (12:30, Sky Sports Football), as Cardiff City host Blackburn Rovers at the Cardiff City Stadium. Omer Riza had taken Cardiff on an incredible unbeaten run that saw them top the form table, but they just came up short on Wednesday night as they lost 1-0 to Luton Town. 

Meanwhile, Blackburn’s stunning home form has also ended as they followed up a 2-0 defeat to Sheffield United with a loss by the same scoreline at Ewood Park, this time to Stoke City. Below you can find my Cardiff City vs Blackburn Rovers prediction featuring team news and betting tips. 

Team News

Cardiff’s XI seems to pick itself at the moment and although they switched things up against Norwich, Riza went back to his preferred 4-2-3-1 system at Luton. Callum Robinson led the line ahead of Rubin Colwill, Oli Tanner and Anwar El-Ghazi. Although they failed to find the net at Kenilworth Road I would expect that unit to remain unchanged, while Perry Ng returned to the team at right-back following his suspension. 

I’d expect the manager to name an unchanged team for this one, with Emmanouil Siopis and David Turnbull in the heart of midfield. Chris Willock is likely to have to settle for a place on the bench once more. 

Football Odds

For Blackburn manager John Eustace, Tyrhys Dolan and Joe Rankin-Costello are potential options to come into the team after a midweek defeat saw them have 25 shots without finding the net. Todd Cantwell moved from the left-wing to the number 10 role, while Andreas Weimann was handed a rare start. 

I’d expect Dolan to shake up that front line, with Makhtar Gueye likely to replace Yuki Ohashi at the top end of the pitch. Danny Batth and Dom Hyam will continue their partnership at centre-back. On the injury front, Scott Wharton, Hayden Carter and Zak Gilsenan remain out, with the latter hoping to return after the international break. 

Cardiff City vs Blackburn Rovers Odds

Cardiff are priced at 6/5 to win this game, with Blackburn available at 11/5. That gives the home side an implied win probability of 45%, A draw can be backed at 5/2, over 2.5 goals is 5/6 and BTTS is 8/11. Robinson is the favourite to open the scoring at 11/2.

Under 2.5 goals @ 5/6

After no goals from either side in midweek, I think it makes sense to back this to be another relatively low-scoring game. There have only been over 2.5 goals in four of Cardiff’s 14 matches this season, meaning 71 per cent of the time they are seeing two goals or fewer. 

That’s all we need for this bet to be a winner, while Blackburn’s lack of efficiency in front of goal sets alarm bells ringing. Blackburn have failed to score in any of their last four outings, and are beginning to slip down the table. They have seen under 2.5 goals in 57 per cent of their league matches this season, so I think this is a sensible first selection. 

Cardiff to win to nil @ 11/4

I’ve just alluded to Blackburn’s lack of attacking edge and I think they could fail to score again in this one. No goals in four matches, and only one in their last five is seriously concerning, and teams are finding it too easy to keep them out. Cardiff have a decent backline, while I think they will get back to winning ways on home soil. 

Luton are a difficult side to predict and a difficult team to play right now, so a loss to them is nothing to worry about. Zooming out slightly, Riza has done a wonderful job so far, and Cardiff have won their last four home games on the bounce. I’m expecting them to get the job done this Saturday.

Acca Flex: Place a pre-match 5+ leg Football accumulator and get a CASH bonus up to 100% if all of your selections win or your money back as CASH if one leg lets you down.

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