Since this article was published, this game has been called off due to coronavirus outbreaks at the training facilities of both clubs. A new date for the game will be confirmed in due course.
Cardiff City will be looking to improve their poor run of form in the Welsh capital when they host basement club Derby County in a Championship relegation clash on Saturday lunchtime.
The Bluebirds have kept just one clean sheet in their last 17 league games on home soil, while the Rams have failed to score in six of their last nine matches on the road.
Match preview
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Cardiff City extended their unbeaten away run to four matches after coming from two goals behind to secure a point in the 2-2 draw against Birmingham City last weekend.
The hosts were two goals to the good at the break thanks to first-half strikes from Troy Deeney and Ivan Sunjic, however the visitors came out fighting in the second half, and Kieffer Moore's right-footed strike in the 66th minute was followed by a dramatic 91st-minute header from Mark McGuinness to snatch a point at the death.
Steve Morison's men have moved up to 20th in the Championship standings, however the Bluebirds are now only three points above the relegation zone, following Peterborough United's victory against Millwall.
While Cardiff have experienced a decent away run in recent weeks, their home form is currently the worst in the division so far this term, claiming just seven points from a possible 33 available in the Welsh capital.
A dreadful run of eight defeats in nine matches at the Cardiff City Stadium – five of which were under the tutelage of Mick McCarthy – may have knocked their confidence in front of their own fans, however their recent record against Derby should provide them with a much-needed boost heading into Saturday's clash.
The Bluebirds are unbeaten in each of their last four league meetings against the Rams, including an impressive 4-0 home victory in March. Another win this weekend could only see them climb as high as 19th in the table but would move them 21 points ahead of Derby.
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Derby County ended a run of three league games without a win by securing a slender 1-0 home victory against Blackpool last weekend.
Nineteen-year-old striker Luke Plange scored the only goal of the game on his first senior start for the Rams, tapping in a rebound off the post from just a yard out in the 51st minute.
Wayne Rooney – who has recently been linked with replacing Rafael Benitez at Everton – has seen his Derby side move onto four points, 17 points adrift of safety with 24 Championship matches remaining.
The Rams travel to Cardiff on Saturday having failed to win any of their last 10 league matches away from home, drawing a blank in front of goal on six occasions in the process.
Derby have also won only two of their last 13 league trips to the Cardiff City Stadium, but Rooney will be hoping his side can take advantage of the host's miserable run of form in South Wales and claim their second successive Championship win, to keep their extremely slim hopes of survival alive.
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Team News
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Cardiff boss Morison has a fully fit squad to choose from this weekend, with defender Sean Morrison in contention to start after serving a one-match suspension.
The 30-year-old could return to the back three at the expense of Aden Flint, with fellow defenders Mark McGuinness and Curtis Nelson set to retain their places in the first XI.
Target man Kieffer Moore is expected to lead the line up front, while Mark Harris and Isaak Davies will be hoping they can force their way into the starting lineup ahead of James Collins and Rubin Colwill.
As for Derby, they will be without striker Sam Baldock and left-back Lee Buchanan due to respective hamstring and knee injuries.
Rooney is unlikely to make too many changes, if any, to his starting lineup, so the likes of Jason Knight, Max Bird and Graeme Shinnie are all set to play again in centre-midfield, with Plange and Tom Lawrence to continue their partnership in attack.
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Smithies; McGuiness, Morrison, Nelson; Ng, Ralls, Pack, Giles; Harris, Colwill; Moore
Derby County possible starting lineup:
Allsop; Jagielka, Davies, Forsyth; Jozwiak, Bird, Shinnie, Knight, Williams; Plange, Lawrence
We say: Cardiff City 1-1 Derby County
A closely-fought contest between two sides struggling at the wrong end of the table is set to be played out this weekend, though both Cardiff and Derby will view this fixture as a winnable game.
Nevertheless, there is little to separate these two teams and so a score draw could be on the cards in South Wales.
Top tip
Oliver Thomas
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 47.92%. A draw had a probability of 26.4% and a win for Derby County had a probability of 25.64%.
The most likely scoreline for a Cardiff City win was 1-0 with a probability of 12.62%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 2-0 (9.19%) and 2-1 (9.09%). The likeliest drawn scoreline was 1-1 (12.48%), while for a Derby County win it was 0-1 (8.57%). The actual scoreline of 1-0 was predicted with a 12.6% likelihood. Our data analysis correctly predicted a 1-0 win for Cardiff City in this match.
