Bristol City evidence suggests Cardiff City must make big Callum Robinson call | OneFootball

Omer Riza seemingly has a bold call to make ahead of Cardiff's six-pointer at Plymouth Argyle on Saturday afternoon

Callum Robinson has led the line with great aplomb for much of the current campaign at Cardiff City, but he now has a fresh competitor in the form of January arrival Yousef Salech.

Robinson, who first joined Cardiff in a hotly-anticipated summer 2022 deadline day move from Championship rivals West Bromwich Albion, excelled in his opening campaign before seeing it curtailed through injury.

He started pre-season the following term unfit and was never really able to get going under Erol Bulut, who, remarkably, had been selecting infamous Hertha Berlin loanee Wilfried Kanga over Robinson prior to his swift sacking in September of last year.

But after a tumultuous term last time out, Robinson's redemption has been something to behold. The Republic of Ireland international is on track to complete his best season yet in front of goal, having registered 11 strikes and counting. That's a tally that only places him behind Borja Sainz, Joel Piroe, Josh Maja and Wilson Isidor in the division's scoring charts.

He has done so at a rate of 0.60 goals per 90 minutes and from an xG of just 6.69, with service often arriving at a real premium in this City side. It's mightily impressive, all things considered, and Robinson was duly rewarded for his efforts with a fresh two-year contract earlier this month.

The 30-year-old's match-by-match fitness requires management from close quarters, though, and he has just appeared somewhat jaded in each of Cardiff's last three games - none of which have ended in victory.

Yousef Salech's start to life at Cardiff City

Isaak Davies and Kion Etete have spent much of the campaign out injured before the latter joined Bolton Wanderers on loan last month, whereas the aforementioned Kanga failed to score a single goal from 16 appearances during what was a disastrous, and short-lived, loan deal.

This means Robinson has not exactly had fierce competition for his starting berth, but the arrival of Salech has now changed that.

The 23-year-old signed for Cardiff last month from Swedish side Sirius in a deal worth an eventual £3.3 million. Not insignificant money at this level, of course, and paying a sizable sum for a striker was a statement of intent and show of faith from the Bluebirds.

Salech has made an extremely strong start to life in the Welsh capital, returning three goals from his first seven appearances. The Danish-born frontman has only started from the first whistle in one of those, namely the FA Cup fourth round advancement over Stoke City, in which he scored.

His other two Championship goals have both been emphatic late equalisers against Millwall and most recently Bristol City in Saturday's 1-1 Severnside Derby home affair. Salech's willingness to press defenders, engage in duels and make surging back-post runs makes him an appealing option as an impact substitute, but he's scoring at an impressive rate and there is increased clamour for him to finally receive the nod from the offset.

Omer Riza should start Yousef Salech over Callum Robinson for Cardiff City's trip to Plymouth Argyle

The stakes are high heading into Cardiff's next match, a firm six-pointer in the Championship relegation battle away to fellow strugglers Plymouth Argyle. The Pilgrims are on unprecedented uplift under Miron Muslic, winning three of their last four matches including a famous FA Cup fourth round win over Liverpool at Home Park earlier this month.

It was widely-felt that Plymouth were already cut adrift, but the appointment of Muslic looks to be a shrewd one.

They're not even bottom of the Championship anymore and are just two points shy of 21st-placed Hull City, and four behind Cardiff, after winning three straight home fixtures.

They will be looking, then, and will feel they stand a good chance at beating a Cardiff side with just one away victory all season in Devon on Saturday afternoon. It's a game that Cardiff will likely need to be up for physically, a department in which they were firmly second-best in away at Fratton Park for last week's chastening defeat at the hands of Portsmouth.

Salech is blessed with supreme physical strength and can occupy opposition defenders with ease, allowing him to either fashion direct goalscoring opportunities or act as a decoy to vacate space for others to utilise. Robinson, meanwhile, is more technically-accomplished than Salech but will not offer Cardiff the direct physical edge this showdown is sure to demand and neccesitate.

His recent goalscoring form should merit reward too - he has now played six times in the Championship without starting a single outing but has two strikes from just 118 minutes of league football.

There is, of course, the option of playing the two together, in what would prompt a tactical shift from Riza.

It's an interesting debate to be had, that's for sure.

Riza has not favoured a two-up-top system during his time in charge of the Bluebirds, but Robinson has the spatial awareness and technical qualities to operate in a free attacking midfield role behind Salech, whom he would complement well.

That's something to take into consideration, though with Alex Robertson poised to return in time for the weekend, it's likely the Aussie midfield ace will start as Cardiff's most advanced midfielder. Rubin Colwill may fancy his own chances, too.

Robinson and Salech are two natural goalscorers who have an instinctive nature in and around the penalty box and, for what it's worth, have both built up a glowing rapport with the City faithful.

Supporters will want to see them taking to the pitch in unison at some stage and Riza may have to make that call, but solely looking ahead to the trip to Plymouth, Salech deserves to lead the line in the Championship for the first time and Robinson could do with a rest - Cardiff can finally afford to bring their top scorer on as a substitute.