Preview: Cardiff City vs Sheffield United - prediction, team news, lineups

Both in search of first wins of the Championship season, Cardiff City and Sheffield United will do battle at the Cardiff City Stadium on Saturday.

The visitors will make their second trip to South Wales in eight days after a goalless stalemate away at Swansea City last weekend, while their hosts drew away at Derby County and the teams experienced contracting midweek EFL Cup results.

Match preview

Cardiff City return to Championship action on Saturday in search of a first victory on their return to the second tier, having started with a pair of draws.

They achieved an immediate promotion from League One under the new management of Brian Barry-Murphy last time around, finishing second on 91 points, having scored a league-high tally of 90 goals in their 46 outings.

After an opening EFL Cup victory over Swindon Town, the Bluebirds began life back in the Championship at home to Wrexham and snatched a 1-1 draw thanks to Rubin Colwill's free kick deep into injury time, before they visited Pride Park to take on Derby County last weekend and again shared the points.

Barry-Murphy's team twice led in the first half through Cian Ashford and Yousef Salech but were pegged back by Carlton Morris and Bobby Clark early in the second half, before most recently hosting Norwich City in the EFL Cup second round on Tuesday and dropping out in a 2-1 defeat having failed to find a leveller after Salech's 93rd-minute goal.

Now with their full focus on the Championship on the back of a creditable unbeaten start, but without a clean sheet on the board in their four competitive games, Cardiff City will look to record a first three-point haul at the weekend to make it five from their opening three matches.

Their opponents arrive in South Wales for the second week in a row in a similar position, with the hopes of adding a win to a pair of draws to start their third consecutive Championship campaign.

Aiming to build on an underwhelming 2025-26 season, which ended in a 13th-placed finish, and return to challenging at the top end of the table this season, Sheffield United enjoyed a positive pre-season and got up and running with a 3-0 away triumph over Mansfield Town to progress to the EFL Cup second round with Patrick Bamford, Mark McGuinness and Callum O'Hare.

The Blades' first two league outings then came at home to Birmingham City and away at Swansea City and ended in a pair of goalless stalemates, leaving them as the only Championship team yet to score and one of just two with a pair of clean sheets on the board.

Chris Wilder's men then faced a trip to Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup on Tuesday and continued an unbeaten start, advancing with a 2-1 victory having led through Tom Cannon, conceded to a Oladapo Afolayan goal and won thanks to Romelle Donovan's decisive finish nine minutes from time.

With positives to take from their start to the season, having only conceded one goal in four games and managed two away cup victories, but hoping to get on the scoresheet for the first time in league action, Sheffield United make another trip to Wales with the hopes of a first Championship victory to take their own tally to five points.

Cardiff City Championship form:

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Sheffield United Championship form:

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Team News

Cardiff City remain badly hit by injuries in defence, with Calum Chambers, Gabriel Osho, Will Fish and Dylan Lawlor having all missed the start of the season.

That left full-backs Perry Ng and Joel Bagan to partner up in the centre of a back four against Derby last weekend, and they should revert to that back four with Ronan Kpakio and Calum Scanlon either side.

Salech will lead the line with confidence, having scored four goals in their first four competitive games of the season, while Cian Ashford and Jack Moylan may come back in from the start in support after featuring off the bench in the EFL Cup.

Sheffield United will likely remain without midfielder Tahith Chong and Ryan One, both of whom have missed the last two games through injuries.

Chris Wilder made some rotations for their midweek cup tie, and key attacker Patrick Bamford should return from the outset, while Tom Cannon and Romelle Donovan made claims to stay in the attacking unit with goals against Blackburn Rovers.

Returning Manchester City loanee Kalvin Phillips was fit to make his first appearance of the season off the bench at Blackburn, and he will now compete for midfield spots with Sydie Peck, Joe Rothwell, Oliver Arblaster and Jairo Riedewald.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:

Trott; Kpakio, Ng, Bagan, Scanlon; Robertson; Tanner, Colwill, Ashford, Moylan; Salech

Sheffield United possible starting lineup:

Cooper; Seriki, Tanganga, McGuinness, McCallum; Donovan, Peck, Rothwell, O'Hare; Cannon, Bamford

We say: Cardiff City 1-1 Sheffield United

Both teams have made solid starts to the season with a pair of draws, and we see that continuing on Saturday.

Sheffield United have the superior quality, particularly with the hosts' struggles for defensive options due to injuries, but Cardiff have made themselves tough to beat on their Championship return.

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