Bournemouth and Cardiff City will go head-to-head at the Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday night as both teams look to build on strong recent performances.
Bournemouth could only secure a point at home to Queens Park Rangers on the weekend, while Cardiff came away 1-0 winners from their trip to Preston North End.
Match preview
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Cardiff boss Neil Harris is adamant that his side are moving in the right direction after they claimed their second win of the season at the weekend.
Home form must be a concern though, as his side are yet to secure a win at the Cardiff City Stadium this season.
Harris will hope that Liverpool loanee Sheyi Ojo can continue the form that saw him snatch the winner on the weekend, while he will also hope that Kieffer Moore can get back amongst the goals.
Both players will be key factors in helping the club overcome the disappointment of last season's playoff failure, and returning to promotion contention this campaign.
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Bournemouth manager Jason Tindall was quick to highlight the impact that the international break had had on his side, as they failed to register one shot on target against QPR at the weekend.
The Cherries were fortunate to come away with a point, and they can be thankful to Asmir Begovic after an inspired display by the Bosnian goalkeeper.
The week saw Cherries forward Joshua King try to force a move to West Ham United, which meant that he was left out of the squad for the Rangers game.
Tindall will hope that the draw will be nothing more than a blip as his side attempt to keep pace with Bristol City and Reading at the top of the table.
The last three matchups between these two sides have seen the home team come out on top, with Cardiff winning the most recent meeting 2-0, back in February 2019.
Cardiff City Championship form: WLWLDW
Cardiff City form (all competitions): LLWLDW
Bournemouth Championship form: WDWWD
Bournemouth form (all competitions): WDDLWWD
Team News
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Cardiff's weekend win came at the expense of injuries to Greg Cunningham and Jordi Osei-Tutu, and so Harris will have to adjust his lineup.
Recent signing - and former Cherry - Harry Wilson will almost certainly come into the team for his first start, while Sol Bamba is likely to deputise for Osei-Tutu.
It's fair to say that Bournemouth may have missed the services that someone like King could offer on the weekend, and he may be introduced back into the squad for Wednesday night's fixture.
Tindall has alluded to match-freshness being an issue for his side, and so there may be rotation at play come Wednesday night's team announcement.
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Smithies; Bamba, Morrison, Nelson; Ralls, Wilson, Bacuna, Pack; Murphy, Moore, Hoilett
Bournemouth possible starting lineup:
Begovic; Stacey, Mepham, S. Cook, Rico, Smith; Lerma, L. Cook, Gosling; Solanke, Surridge
We say: Cardiff City 2-2 Bournemouth
In what is likely to be a very competitive fixture, we see both sides having strong periods during the game. We are backing Bournemouth to return to scoring ways, but the Bluebirds will look to hold their own, resulting in the spoils being shared.
Top betting tip
Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting over 1.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Over 1.5:dataData 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 Bournemouth win with a probability of 36.77%. A win for Cardiff City had a probability of 35.4% and a draw had a probability of 27.8%.
The most likely scoreline for a Bournemouth win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.17%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (7.88%) and 0-2 (6.71%). The likeliest Cardiff City win was 1-0 (10.91%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (13.11%). The actual scoreline of 1-1 was predicted with a 13.1% likelihood.
