Cardiff vs Swansea prediction: ENGLAND: Championship betting tips on match 2023-09-15 18:45.
It’s time for the biggest club football game Wales has to offer as the Sky Sports cameras descend upon the Saturday night lights of the Cardiff City Stadium for the 75th edition of the South Wales derby. After a rather slow start to the league season (W1, D1, L3), Cardiff will have more than just revenge on their minds after Swansea made it a record-extending four straight wins over the Bluebirds in the 99th minute of the corresponding fixture last term.
Survival is the name of the game for Cardiff this season, but claiming local bragging rights to kickstart a possible jaunt up the table would be more than welcome. That’s especially true seeing as Cardiff gave up a 2-0 lead against Ipswich in the previous round to lose 3-2, and with that being the second time this season that they’ve failed to win after going two goals ahead, they certainly won’t be resting on their laurels even with a strong start.
Cardiff fans may think their club is enduring a slow start, but their start looks impressive when compared to Swansea’s. Already out of the Carabao Cup and without a win in league action (D2, L3), any improvement on Swansea’s finish three points outside of the play-off spots last time around seems unlikely unless they can quickly stitch together some wins.
Swansea have had the benefit of welcoming no fewer than four new players on transfer deadline day, an influx which prompted boss Michael Duff to proclaim “the season starts now”. The fact that it actually began five games ago won’t bother him too much if his Swansea charges can build on their return of seven clean sheets across their last nine South Wales derbies (W7, D1, L1).
Players to watch: Two local lads will take centre stage here as Wales captain Aaron Ramsey looks to build on his two goals since his fairytale return to Cardiff, albeit both in defeats. He’ll be up against Ben Cabango, a man he shared a dressing room with this past week on international duty and also the man who stuck a dagger into the heart of his hometown club by scoring a last-gasp winner for Swansea here last year.
Hot stat: Just one of the last 12 South Wales derbies saw both teams score on the day.