Cardiff City square off against Huddersfield Town on Friday evening looking to extend their 10-match unbeaten streak under recently-appointed boss Mick McCarthy.
While the Bluebirds are now in contention for the Championship playoffs, Huddersfield are looking to stay clear of the relegation zone after claiming just one win since the turn of the year.
Match preview
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When Cardiff made the decision to replace Neil Harris with McCarthy, few supporters would have been satisfied with the appointment of a man who failed to win over fans at Ipswich Town.
As it stands, the Bluebirds hierarchy looked to have pulled off a masterstroke, with the former Republic of Ireland boss having guided the club to 24 points from a possible 30.
Such has been Cardiff's transformation that any draw under McCarthy is now regarded as a disappointment, highlighting the unforeseen change of mood at the Welsh outfit.
With 12 matches still remaining and some of their rivals possessing games in hand, Cardiff should still be regarded as outsiders when it comes to claiming a playoff place.
Nevertheless, Tuesday night's 4-0 win over Derby County was emphatic, and McCarthy will see no reason why his players cannot replicate that performance against an out-of-sorts Huddersfield.
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Having avoided defeat against relegation rivals Birmingham City, Carlos Corberan will be content with the Terriers adding another point to their tally.
However, the 1-1 draw took Huddersfield's tally for 2021 to six points from 12 matches, their only victory coming versus promotion chasers Swansea City.
The Yorkshire side are just a couple of wins away from re-entering the mix for the mid-table spots, positions now deemed desirable after the inconsistency since the turn of the year.
With Huddersfield still possessing the eighth-best home record in the division, Corberan and his players may relish the tag of underdogs as they come up against the form team in the division.
Huddersfield Town Championship form: LLWLLD
Cardiff City Championship form: WWWWDW
Team News
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Providing that he sticks with a back four, Corberan could name the same Huddersfield side which started the fixture against Blues.
Yaya Sanogo is unlikely to be ready to make his first start, while Richard Stearman should keep his spot ahead of Richard Keogh.
Defensive duo Christopher Schindler and Harry Toffolo remain on the sidelines through injury.
Cardiff will be forced into at least one change with Joe Bennett sustaining a knee injury against Derby in midweek.
Joel Bagan should come into the team at left wing-back, with Harry Wilson also in contention to start after remaining as an unused substitute versus the Rams.
Huddersfield Town possible starting lineup:
Schofield; Edmonds-Green, Stearman, Sarr, Pipa; Bacuna, Vallejo, O'Brien; Holmes, Campbell, Mbenza
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Phillips; Morrison, Flint, Nelson; Ng, Vaulks, Pack, Bagan; Ojo, Bacuna; Moore
We say: Huddersfield Town 0-2 Cardiff City
Huddersfield have shown on plenty of occasions this season that they are capable of defeating any level of opposition at the John Smith's Stadium. However, we expect Cardiff to make relatively light work of their hosts, easing to a comfortable win with a clean sheet.
Top tip
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 43.59%. A win for Huddersfield Town had a probability of 29.41% and a draw had a probability of 27%.
The most likely scoreline for a Cardiff City win was 0-1 with a probability of 11.89%. The next most likely scorelines for that outcome were 1-2 (8.75%) and 0-2 (8.15%). The likeliest Huddersfield Town win was 1-0 (9.32%), while for a drawn scoreline it was 1-1 (12.77%). The actual scoreline of 0-0 was predicted with an 8.7% likelihood.
