Manchester City vs Cardiff City 04/04/19

4 April 2019

The Premier League title contenders and the relegation fighters go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium as Manchester City tackle a vulnerable Cardiff City side.

The reigning holders currently sit two points adrift of top-placed Liverpool although they still have one game in hand. The Citizens come into this encounter after racking up a seven-game Premier League winning run, scoring 18 while conceding just two goals across those outings. What’s more, Pep Guardiola’s men proudly boast the best PL home record (W15, L1). Man City have won all ten of their previous home clashes across all competitions, scoring 46 goals while allowing only three in the process. Now, Guardiola’s crew chase their third win over Cardiff this campaign considering they’ve outplayed the returnees in the Premier League as well as the FA Cup without conceding a single goal in those two H2Hs.

On the other hand, the relegation-threatened visitors go into this meeting off the back of a frustrating 1-0 loss to Chelsea although they had a goal lead ten minutes before the final whistle. It was Cardiff’s fourth defeat in their last five PL games (W1, L4) and also the fourth in which they’ve conceded 2+ match goals. Although the Bluebirds lost ten of 14 PL road encounters, they’ve pulled off two wins on their previous five PL road trips (W2, L3), with both of those successes saw them beating their rivals by a narrow 1-goal margin. Immense problems in the final third, especially when playing away from home have seen Neil Warnock’s players scoring just nine goals on the road, which is the worst attacking road record in the PL. Another potential worry for Warnock could be Cardiff’s disastrous away record against the PL’s top-six clubs (4 losses in 4 games) and a -8 goal difference (S3, C11).