Preview: Cardiff City vs Wrexham - prediction, team news, lineups

Cardiff City are set to kick off their Championship campaign on Monday evening when they welcome Wrexham to the Cardiff City Stadium.

The hosts are back in the second tier after earning promotion from League One, while the visitors narrowly missed out on a playoff spot last season.

Match preview

Cardiff secured an immediate return to the Championship last season, picking up 27 wins, 10 draws and nine defeats to earn automatic promotion.

Although Brian Barry-Murphy's side ultimately finished second behind champions Lincoln City, they were also 14 points clear of third-placed Stockport County.

The Bluebirds have strengthened their squad over the summer with the signings of Nathan Trott and Jack Moylan, while key players like Perry Ng and Joel Bagan have extended their contracts.

Moylan in particular should be an excellent addition, having starred for Lincoln last season with 18 goal contributions from midfield.

Cardiff enjoyed a prolific pre-season, suffering a 6-0 defeat to Midtjylland before picking up a 6-1 win over Cork City, a 5-1 win against Forest Green Rovers and a shock 4-1 win over Roma.

In their first competitive game, Cardiff continued their impressive goalscoring form as they beat League Two outfit Swindon Town 3-2 in the EFL Cup thanks to a Yousef Salech brace and a Moylan strike.

Wrexham, meanwhile, will be looking to mount another promotion push this season after finishing just two points off the top six in the 2025-26 campaign.

The Red Dragons have also strengthened their squad over the summer, forking out around £16m to sign goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, full-back Danny Imray and midfielder Benjamin Whiteman.

Wrexham had a mixed pre-season, drawing with Wisla Krakow before picking up wins over Manchester United and Leeds United and suffering defeats to Liverpool and Sunderland.

However, they were knocked out of the EFL Cup last week by Middlesbrough, with a spectacular goal from Will Lankshear separating the two sides.

It was a deserved victory for Middlesbrough, with Parkinson left bemoaning the lack of a "clinical edge" from his side.

This will only be the second meeting between the two sides since Wrexham were taken over by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, with the first meeting a 2025 EFL Cup clash that Cardiff won 2-1.

Cardiff City form (all competitions):

Wrexham form (all competitions):

Team News

Cardiff could hand Moylan his first start after he scored off the bench against Swindon, while lone striker Salech will be looking to continue his good form.

Joel Colwill could replace David Turnbull in midfield and partner Alex Robertson.

Wrexham, meanwhile, will be without last season's top scorer Josh Windass due to injury but Ben Sheaf and Liberato Cacace could return.

Davis Keillor-Dunn could partner Sam Smith up front, while Zak Vyner, Dominic Hyam and Callum Doyle are set to continue in defence.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:

Trott; Kpakio, Ng, Osho, Bagan; J. Colwill, Robertson; Moylan, Ashford, Davies; Salech

Wrexham possible starting lineup:

Patterson; Vyner, Hyam, Doyle; Imray, Rathbone, James, O'Brien, Thomason; Smith, Keillor-Dunn

We say: Cardiff City 1-2 Wrexham

Cardiff should be good value in the Championship this season, but Wrexham are a tough test in their first game back in the league.

Wrexham are expected to challenge at the top of the table this season and should have too much for Cardiff, particularly after investing heavily in three new signings.

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