Preview: Cardiff City vs FC Midtjylland - prediction, team news, lineups

Newly-promoted Championship side Cardiff City will begin their preparations for life back in the second tier when they welcome FC Midtjylland to Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Bluebirds are gearing up for their first of four planned pre-season fixtures ahead of the 2026-27 Championship campaign, while the Danish visitors will soon travel to Turkey for a UEFA Europa League qualifying tie against Besiktas.

Match preview

Following the conclusion of the 2025-26 League One season, Cardiff City's immediate return to the Championship was confirmed after Brian Barry-Murphy's side secured a second-placed finish.

The Bluebirds enjoyed a successful League One campaign, recording 27 wins, 10 draws and nine defeats from their 46 league outings to collect 91 points, and they now begin preparations for their return to the Championship with a home fixture this weekend before travelling to Cork, the hometown of their manager.

Following their promotion, Cardiff have announced just one signing so far this summer, with Nathan Trott returning to Cardiff City Stadium after a successful loan spell last season where the goalkeeper made an immediate impact by recording five clean sheets in his first five league appearances.

However, with the step up in quality to come, Barry-Murphy will be keen to add further reinforcements before Cardiff begin their competitive campaign against Swindon Town in the first round of the 2026-27 EFL Cup at the start of August.

Omari Kellyman, who scored 11 goals during his loan spell with Cardiff last season, has been linked with a return to the Bluebirds, while there have also been reports that Rocco Shein, Elliot Watt and Charlie Savage could make the move to South Wales.

Cardiff return to action for the first time since ending their 2025-26 League One campaign with a dramatic 5-4 defeat away to Mansfield Town on the final day of the season.

As for FC Midtjylland, they travel to the UK for their fourth and final friendly fixture of the summer before beginning their UEFA Europa League qualifying campaign against Besiktas in Turkey, with their Danish Superliga season starting just three days later with an away fixture against Sonderjyske.

Their league campaign will start with Mike Tullberg's side aiming to go one step further and claim a fifth Danish Superliga title after finishing second for the second successive season, seven points behind champions AGF.

A strong start to the previous Danish Superliga campaign saw Midtjylland lose just one of their opening 15 league fixtures, while they also impressed in the UEFA Europa League, where memorable victories over Nottingham Forest, Celtic and Dinamo Zagreb helped them secure a third-placed finish in the league phase before they were eliminated by a revenge-seeking Forest in the knockout stages.

Alongside their strong league and European campaigns, the Wolves claimed the 2025-26 Danish Cup, securing their seventh domestic cup success and further cementing their status as one of Denmark's most successful clubs in recent times.

Midtjylland have also made an impressive start to pre-season, winning two and drawing one of their opening three friendly fixtures while scoring seven goals during that run, with a 4-2 victory over Silkeborg last weekend the highlight of the positive results.

In their bid to improve on last season, the Wolves have signed four new players who could feature against Cardiff this weekend.

FC Midtjylland Club Friendlies 3 form:

W D W

Team News

With this being Cardiff's first outing since their final-day defeat against Mansfield Town, the starting lineup is difficult to predict.

Barry-Murphy is expected to use a mixture of senior players and academy prospects, while Trott could make his first appearance since completing a permanent move from Copenhagen.

For the visitors, their lineup should be easier to predict with this being their fourth friendly fixture of the summer.

Former Premier League and Championship midfielder Philip Billing is expected to continue in midfield for Midtjylland, while Stanley Iheanacho, who has scored three goals in three pre-season appearances, is set to lead the line again as he prepares for his competitive debut for the Wolves.

Several Midtjylland players have been involved at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, including Lee Han-beom, Cho Gue-sung, Denil Castillo and Martin Erlic, and they will not be available for selection in South Wales.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:

Trott; Ng, Daland, Lawlor, Bagan; King, Robertson; Willock, R. Colwill, Ashford; Etete

FC Midtjylland possible starting lineup:

Olafsson; Diao, Konteh, Sorensen; Johannesen, Billing, Bravo, Jensen; Byskov, Iheanacho, Gogorza

We say: Cardiff City 2-2 FC Midtjylland

Pre-season fixtures are notoriously difficult to predict, particularly when many players are making their first appearances after more than two months without competitive action.

The Danish visitors arrive unbeaten in their friendly fixtures this summer and will head into the contest as favourites, but the positive feeling around Cardiff's return to the Championship could help the Bluebirds secure an impressive draw.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.