Both looking to take the first step towards promotion to the Premier League, Cardiff City and Sunderland will clash at the Cardiff City Stadium in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The Bluebirds are aiming to build on a midtable finish during the 2023-24 campaign, whilst the Black Cats need to change their second-tier fortunes following a stuttering calendar year to date.
Match preview
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After 50 matches at the helm in South Wales and plenty of speculation surrounding his future at the club, Erol Bulut has signed a fresh two-year contract at the Cardiff City Stadium and will lead his troops into their 2024-25 Championship opener against Sunderland on Saturday.
Prior to the Turk's arrival, the Bluebirds only avoided an unthinkable relegation to League One courtesy of other sides suffering point deductions in the 2022-23 season, meaning that last term's placement of 12th was a major step in the right direction for the Welsh outfit.
The primary task for Cardiff this season will be figuring out how to bridge the gap in consistency and quality to the top six and subsequent playoff qualification, with Bulut's troops often struggling to showcase a recognisable style of play during large chunks of last campaign.
Starting just seven matches for the Bluebirds across 2023-24 due to a number of fitness issues, Aaron Ramsey is definitely capable of providing attacking magic for Saturday's hosts, with the 33-year-old Welsh legend hoping to have a "season to remember" at the Cardiff City Stadium.
With the now-departed Karlan Grant and right-back Perry Ng sharing Cardiff's Golden Boot in the Championship last season, there is set to be plenty of goalscoring burden on Hertha Berlin loanee Wilfried Kanga, who enjoyed a prolific term at Standard Liege in the Belgian Pro League last campaign.
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Following their playoff-clinching campaign of 2022-23 under the tutelage of Tony Mowbray and with the attacking excellence of Amad Diallo, Sunderland suffered a serious fall from grace last season, stumbling in the second half of the term to finish 16th, just six points above the relegation zone.
The ill-fated tenure of Michael Beale did a lot to derail the Black Cats' hopes of achieving back-to-back top-six placements, before interim head coach Mike Dodds guided a disgruntled and seemingly disengaged squad through until the end of a 46-game schedule to forget.
Saturday afternoon will welcome in a new era at Sunderland as Frenchman Regis Le Bris takes charges of his first competitive match as manager of the North-East giants, with the 46-year-old arriving to excitement from supporters despite his relegation from Ligue 1 as Lorient boss last season.
Dodging transfer rumours like a protagonist avoids bullets in an action movie, Jack Clarke remains on the books of the Black Cats ahead of this weekend's 2024-25 opener, with the former Tottenham Hotspur loanee undoubtedly the jewel in the crown of Saturday's visitors to Wales.
Alongside a host of domestic friendlies, Sunderland have also tested themselves against a major European outfit in the build-up to this Saturday, with Le Bris's troops holding French heavyweights Marseille to a draw last Saturday courtesy of goals from Dennis Cirkin and Adil Aouchiche.
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Team News
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After finding the net in the 2-0 win over Bristol Rovers last weekend, Joe Ralls should start in the engine room for Cardiff this weekend.
Former Arsenal star Ramsey will be hoping to join the Englishman in the middle of the park, where Greece international Manolis Siopis is also likely to operate.
The Bluebirds could hand Callum Robinson a start on the opening day of the season, although youngster Isaak Davies has been sharp since returning from a loan spell in the Belgian Pro League last term.
Sunderland remain without the services of Jenson Seelt for the start of the campaign, with the centre-back picking up a serious injury in early March.
The Black Cats do not boast a recognised senior striker within in their ranks, so 19-year-old Spaniard Eliezer Mayenda is expected to lead the line for the visitors this weekend.
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Horvath; Ng, Chambers, Goutas, O'Dowda; Siopis, Ralls, Ramsey, Tanner, Willock; Meite
Sunderland possible starting lineup:
Patterson; Hume, O'Nien, Alese, Cirkin; Neil, Browne, Bellingham, Roberts, Clarke; Mayenda
We say: Cardiff City 2-1 Sunderland
In front of an energetic home crowd and with a host of new attacking faces, Cardiff will be confident of commencing their campaign with maximum points this weekend.
There are still questions marks over Sunderland's striking situation ahead of Saturday's curtain raiser, and we feel that could impact their chances of earning a result in South Wales.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Carter White
