Cardiff City vs Sheffield United – Preview | OneFootball

Championship leaders Sheffield United travel to the Welsh capital on Saturday afternoon to take on an out of form Cardiff City.

Cardiff City are winless in their last seven games with their most recent result being a 2-2 draw away to Stoke City where they conceded a 95th minute equaliser. This poor run of form has seen them drop to 21st in the league table, just a single point above the drop zone.

Meanwhile, the Blades are unbeaten in 10 games and sit top of the league, with a three point cushion to second place Leeds United, after a 2-0 victory over Plymouth Argyle last weekend.

Transfer Business

The Bluebirds brought in some vastly experienced Premier League and Championship players in the summer, in the form of versatile defender Calum Chambers and former Aston Villa forward Anwar El Ghazi.

Bringing in an experienced top-flight campaigner such as Chambers at Championship level you’d think would be able to come in and improve a Cardiff defence that conceded 70 goals last season. However, that has not been the case. In fact, they’re averaging 1.6 goals conceded per game this term, having conceded 1.5 per game last season.

At the other end, El Ghazi has made a slight impact contributing to three goals (two goals scored, one assist) in 15 appearances. The Dutchman can play on either wing and tends to be more of a goalscorer than a creative spark, and the Bluebirds will need him to start firing on all cylinders if they are to move clear of the drop zone.

Perhaps the least reputable player they signed in the summer was 21-year-old Australian international Alex Robertson. The holding midfielder has, in all honesty, been one of the very few bright sparks in this Cardiff team. He is a midfielder that can sit in front of the defence and break up play, and when he’s on the ball he can progress it up the field. And, he is a creative outlet in the final third. Robertson has claimed two goals and an assist this season from 16 appearances.

Team News

Cardiff City have several players unavailable for the clash against the Blades on Saturday. Perry Ng and Ollie Tanner are both unavailable once more for Omer Riza, and they can add 19-year-old Michael Reindorf to that list. Welsh forward Isaak Davies is back in training, the Turkish manager admitted to WalesOnline, but this game could come a little too soon for him.

Sheffield United team news soon to follow…

CARDIFF, WALES – DECEMBER 11: Jordan Storey of Preston North End is put under pressure by Callum Robinson of Cardiff City during the Sky Bet Championship match between Cardiff City FC and Preston North End FC at Cardiff City Stadium on December 11, 2024 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

Cardiff City’s Star Player for This Game

Cardiff City’s top goalscorer is former Blade Callum Robinson with five goals, could he add to his tally against his former club on Saturday? They’ll certainly be relying on him much like they have done for most of this season.

The Irish international ranks in the 82nd percentile for non-penalty goals, on FBref. And, he has a good goals to shot ratio of 0.21 per 90, which ranks him in the 83rd percentile. For context, Tyrese Campbell has been super clinical this season and his goals to shot ratio averages at 0.32 per 90.

Robinson is also the main source for getting the ball into players in and around the opposition box, ranking in the 93rd percentile for passes into the final third, and he ranks in the 84th percentile for expected assists per game compared to other Championship forwards.

By no means are these ‘blow you away’ numbers, but, it does show that he shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Sheffield United’s Star Player For This Game

Saturday’s home side are giving up the joint-highest xG per shot in the league, and as a result their opponents are scoring 13.1% of their shots taken (allowing the third-highest goal conversion rate in the Championship), per Opta. Therefore, I really fancy whoever is playing up top for the Blades to have a big game.

It’s understandable for Chris Wilder to be cautious with Rhian Brewster given his injury history, and of course with the in-form Tyrese Campbell, who has had a minor back problem. And then there’s Kieffer Moore, who has recently returned in sub appearances following his calf injury.

With Brewster and Campbell, you have a forward that can come to feet and spin in behind, and play on the break. This would suit them on Saturday because Cardiff have conceded the second-most fast-break goals in the league. Additionally though, they have also given up the second-most headed goals, which would play to Moore’s strength.

To conclude, I do really believe it’s a pick your poison type of game for Sheffield United, in terms of which forward/s you play because of how poor the Bluebirds’ defence is.

My View

Cardiff City are in trouble, and they will likely try and spend their way out of it in January. Their attack isn’t potent enough to keep them in games and their defence is unreliable, like last season. They are averaging just 0.95 goals per game, the joint-second worst in the Championship. Whilst their defence is conceding 1.6 goals per game, fifth worst.

They have created just 25 big chances all game (second worst) and to make matters worse, they have the lowest conversion rate in the league at 7.17%

Sheffield United didn’t play remotely well against Plymouth Argyle last weekend, but at least they had some form of pace to threaten United. I’m just not sure Cardiff City have the personnel to replicate what Plymouth did. Plus, that will likely be United’s worst performance of this season when it’s all said and done.

My Prediction

Sheffield United have scored a fair few of their goals inside the first 15 minutes of games and if they can do that against Cardiff City I think it would set up for a really terrible afternoon for the home supporters.

On the flip side, Cardiff have conceded 11 goals in the final 15 minutes of matches, potentially showing that they have some fitness or mental fatigue issues in the later stages of games. So the last thing they’d want is a confident Blades team popping it about for the majority of the game tiring them out.

On that note, my prediction is a 3-0 win for the Blades, capping a great performance off with a third goal in the final 15 minutes.