Match Preview: Cardiff City v Brighton
Brighton and Hove Albion and Cardiff City meet for the first time in the top flight in the 2018-19 season – something you’d have got long odds on a little over a year ago.
Back then, nobody was really tipping the Bluebirds to win promotion from the Championship but here we are. Neil Warnock has another success story on his CV and we’re heading to South Wales for an away day that has turned itself into one of the best in the league over the last decade or so.
Our visit to Cardiff this time coincides with Wales taking on Australia at the Principality Stadium, which should make for a lively day in the city centre. Hopefully, the Albion faithful will have something to celebrate in the pubs of the Welsh capital come 2.30pm – a ridiculously early time for a game to finish thanks to Sky Sports’ meddling in the fixture list.
Who are Cardiff City?
Cardiff City were formed in 1899 as Riverside FC, an imaginative title for a club that played next to a river. They adopted their current title in 1908 and are the only club from outside of England to have won the FA Cup, defeating Arsenal in 1927 in the first final to broadcast live on radio. Unlike Sky who decided that football only began once they’d got on board in 1992, the BBC didn’t try and erase the history of the sport pre-1927 based on their new-found interest. Cardiff have spent most of their history in the second tier with 17 seasons of top flight football, two of those coming under the ownership of Vincent Tan, a man who looks like he should be a Bond Villain. He acts a bit like it too, having changed the clubs colours to red for a brief period earlier this decade. While Tan has been at the helm for those successes, the real reason behind their upturn must surely be the move from Ninian Park to the imaginatively named Cardiff City Stadium. The old ground used to be one of the most fearsome in the Football League to visit, where you could expect to be pelted with coins, hot cups of coffee and Fanta bottles filled with piss. Now, it’s one of the best away days in the country.
What are they like now?
Neil Warnock took over when now-Albion assistant boss Paul Trollope was sacked midway through the 2016-17 season with Cardiff looking deep in Championship relegation trouble. What Warnock has achieved in the intervening 18 months is nothing short of sensational, leading then firstly to safety and then to promotion to the Premier League last season via a second place finish behind Wolverhampton Wanderers. Essentially, he’s done what Chris Hughton did for us but having spent less money and in a shorter time frame. As a result of this dramatic rise, Cardiff are most bookies favourites to finish rock bottom this season and while Wolves and fellow promoted club Fulham spent the GDP of a small African country trying to strengthen their squad, Warnock was pretty quiet in the summer. They aren’t as bad as a lot of people claim as shown by their 4-1 win over the big spending Cottagers recently and they will be dangerous opponents, especially to a side with an away record as terrible as the Albion’s.
Which players should we be worried about?
Cardiff’s main trouble is that they don’t have a striker who is remotely close to being of the required standard of the Premier League. Kenneth Zohore, who we very nearly swapped for Tomer Hemed last summer, is currently their fourth choice forward and they’d probably bite our arms off for Jurgen Locadia, that’s how bad it is. Josh Murphy is their biggest attacking threat from wide positions and given that Bruno and Gaetan Bong haven’t exactly looked great this season, the former Norwich City man could cause problems.
What’s the Albion’s record against Cardiff like?
It’s very much a case of home being where the heart is when it comes to this fixture. The Brighton v Cardiff head-to-head reads 75 games, 28 Albion wins, 24 draws and 23 Cardiff victories. But Brighton have only won in the Welsh capital nine times out of 38 – the Seagulls dislike playing there nearly as much as Uncle Bryn hates going to the pub there – there’s no way you’re getting me out in Cardiff tonight!
What’s the best WeAreBrighton.com memory of Cardiff City away?
When Brighton first won promotion to the Championship under Gus Poyet, Cardiff away was always scheduled on a Tuesday night. The first of those, and our first ever visit to the Cardiff City Stadium, came in August 2011. City were highly fancied that year, yet Poyet’s newcomers to the division went there and won 3-1. Ashley Barnes scored twice and there was even a goal for the prodigiously talented Will Hoskins before he had to be packed away with straw in a box for the colder months.
What’s the worst WeAreBrighton.com memory of Cardiff City away?
The last of those Tuesday night games came in February 2015, a 0-0 draw in which neither team managed a shot on target. Things got even worse after the game when the WeAreBrighton.com team went out to a student night, where we pretended to be BBC produces in town working on Doctor Who which was filmed in the city at the time in an attempt to pull. The 8am bus back to London a few hours later was not good fun.
Whose played for both sides?
We could be here all day given the amount of Seagulls who seem to end up Bluebirds and vice versa. Cardiff currently have one time Albion loanee Joe Bennett in their squad while over the last 20 years or so, Alex Revell, Craig Noone, Richard Carpenter, Mark Walton and Charlie Oatway have all played for both. There’s been plenty of overlapping in the dugouts as well. We’ve already mentioned Trollope whose been both Cardiff boss and Albion assistant; Alan Cork did things the other way round and gave up his position as Micky Adams’ number two to take over at Ninian park while the master of Brighton’s 2008-09 Great Escape Russell Slade had a couple of seasons at the helm of City.
Other than football, what is Cardiff famous for?
Cardiff has a wealth of famous residents living around the city, most of whom reside in nearby Barry Island. Here you can find Bryn West, Gwen West, Stacey West, Nessa Jenkins, Doris O’Neil, Dave’s Coaches and Owain Hughes. And before you ask, no I don’t.
Where’s the betting value for Cardiff City v Brighton?
Brighton don’t score many goals on their travels and Cardiff don’t score many goals full stop. Under 1.5 goals is available at 7/4 while the Albion’s record away from home suggests that the smart money is on the draw at 109/50.
Prediction
If Brighton want to remain well clear of relegation danger, then this is exactly the sort of game we should be targeting three points from. Many of us are still scarred by the 2-0 defeat away at West Bromwich Albion last season however which was viewed in similar fashion, and for that reason we’re plumping for a not-quite-as-bad-result of a 0-0 draw.
