Preview: Cardiff City vs Wigan Athletic - prediction, team news, lineups

Cardiff City play host to Wigan Athletic on Sunday looking to strengthen their position at the top of the League One table.

At a time when the Bluebirds sit five points clear of third spot, Wigan are down in 14th place despite avoiding defeat in their last two outings.

Match preview

When only drawing 1-1 draw with Wycombe Wanderers on New Year's Day, Cardiff City head coach Brian Barry-Murphy would have had concerns over dropping points in the promotion race.

Instead, the Bluebirds strengthened their position with none of the top eight teams emerging victorious, the gap to fourth remaining at nine points.

Even though Cardiff's performance level has dropped off, seven points from games with Exeter City, Stevenage and Wycombe represents a strong return over the Christmas and New Year period.

That said, only two clean sheets have been recorded across their last nine fixtures in all competitions, emphasising that improvements are required in that area of the pitch.

Cardiff have won 10 of their 12 league matches at their home stadium, including their most recent six, but they have still conceded 15 goals across that period.

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As for Wigan, they have reached the halfway stage of the campaign having lost just seven of their 23 fixtures in the third tier.

However, nine draws keeps Ryan Lowe's side down in the bottom half of the standings, eight points adrift of the playoffs.

To their credit, though, Wigan have collected four points from games with Burton Albion and Barnsley to keep them three points clear of the relegation zone.

The biggest positive this season has been their defensive record with Wigan conceding just 26 goals from 23 games, the seventh-best return in the division.

Nevertheless, only three teams have scored fewer goals, highlighting what needs to improve if they are to remain as fringe contenders for the top six.

Cardiff City League One form:

Cardiff City form (all competitions):

Wigan Athletic League One form:

Wigan Athletic form (all competitions):

Team News

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David Turnbull is in line to replace Alex Robertson in the Cardiff midfield after the latter's 28th-minute withdrawal at Wycombe.

Calum Chambers could come into the backline for Gabriel Osho, while it would come as a surprise if further rotation did not come in attack with Cian Ashford, Ollie Tanner and Callum Robinson all in contention.

Wigan remain without midfielder Matt Smith after his straight red against Bradford City.

Christian Saydee and Joseph Hungbo are both pushing for recalls, but Lowe may see no reason to overly-tinker with his side after their recent improvement.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:

Trott; Kpakio, Lawlor, Chambers, Ng; Wintle, Turnbull; Ashford, Colwill, Willock; Salech

Wigan Athletic possible starting lineup:

Tickle; Carragher, Aimson, Fox; Rodrigues, Weir, Francois, Murray; Bettoni, Wright; Costelloe

We say: Cardiff City 2-0 Wigan Athletic

Having improved of late, Wigan will feel that they are capable of upsetting the odds in South Wales. However, we can only back a home win, potentially with a clean sheet, to take another step towards promotion.

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