Cardiff City will be looking to pick up from where they left off at the end of last season away from home when they make the trip to Blackpool on Saturday afternoon.
Both sides kicked off their 2021-22 Championship campaigns with 1-1 draws last weekend, with Cardiff being held by Barnsley and Blackpool snatching a late point at Bristol City.
Match preview
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Mick McCarthy's side fell short of achieving their target of the playoffs last season, though that had little to do with their away form.
The Bluebirds won six, drew five and lost just one of their last 12 matches outside of South Wales in 2020-21 en route to an eighth-placed finish.
Finishing at least two places higher will be the aim this time around, though City started their campaign with a rather underwhelming home draw against Barnsley.
Marlon Pack headed Cardiff in front nine minutes into the second half after both teams had earlier had a goal ruled out, only for Toby Sibbick to earn the Tykes a point.
McCarthy's men did manage to get off the mark with their first win in midweek, though, thanks to a 3-2 success against Sutton United in round one of the EFL Cup.
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Blackpool were more emphatic winners in their midweek cup tie, seeing off fellow second-tier side Middlesbrough 3-0 on home soil.
The Tangerines are back at Bloomfield Road on Saturday and aiming to build on a solid start to the campaign, which also includes that aforementioned draw at Ashton Gate.
Debutant Shayne Lavery struck in added time to cancel out Chris Martin's first-half opener, meaning a well-earned point for Blackpool in their first game back in the Championship.
Neil Critchley's side have a good record against next opponents Cardiff, losing just two of their last 24 home league meetings with the Bluebirds, most recently in 2012-13.
Blackpool have won their first home league match of the season in four of the last five seasons, meanwhile, so the stats are certainly stacked in their favour.
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Team News
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The big selection decision McCarthy has to make is whether to bring star striker Kieffer Moore into the starting lineup following his involvement with Wales at Euro 2020.
Moore was late returning to training and was only fit enough for a cameo appearance against Barnsley, though he got 86 minutes under his belt against Sutton in midweek.
Should he be deemed not ready to start, James Collins will get the nod up top as he looks to build on a solid start to life in South Wales in terms of his pre-season form.
Marley Watkins is another in contention to earn a start after netting twice on his competitive debut in the week, while Will Vaulks is back from suspension for this showdown.
As for Blackpool, Lavery made it two goals in two games with the second of his side's goals against Middlesbrough, surely doing enough to earn a starting spot here.
Critchley made seven changes for that cup tie and is expected to revert back to something similar to the XI fielded against Bristol City last week.
Lavery's likely inclusion from the first whistle could mean Tyreece John-Jules making way, while Josh Bowler is another pushing for a recall.
Blackpool possible starting lineup:
Maxwell; Connolly, Keogh, Husband, Garbutt; Hamilton, James, Ward, Anderson; Lavery, Yates
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Phillips; Morrison, Flint, Nelson; Ng, Vaulks, Pack, Bagan; Watkins, Collins, Giles
We say: Blackpool 1-1 Cardiff City
Both sides will be eager to get their first league win on the board at the second time of asking this weekend.
Cardiff do not have the best of records at Bloomfield Road, where Blackpool are unbeaten in five, and we can see them coming away disappointed on this latest trip to the seaside.
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Data Analysis
Our analysis of all available data, including recent performances and player stats up until an hour before kickoff, suggested the most likely outcome of this match was a Cardiff City win with a probability of 43.11%. A win for Blackpool had a probability of 28.67% and a draw had a probability of 28.2%.
The most likely scoreline for a Cardiff City win was 0-1 with a probability of 13.25%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 0-2 (8.48%) and 1-2 (8.38%). The likeliest Blackpool win was 1-0 (10.23%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.09%). The actual scoreline of 0-2 was predicted with an 8.5% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted that Cardiff City would win this match.
