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Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff
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Kick Off: Saturday 23rd November at 12:30
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Competition: Championship
Both Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff have been counting down the days until the international break is over. They’re desperate to resume league duties to try and correct the losses they suffered prior to the enforced pause to proceedings.
That is especially the case for the Owls, who lost the Steel City derby to arch-rivals Sheffield United last time out by a 1-0 scoreline. They did at least win their most recent contest played at Hillsborough, so home comforts could assist them once more on Saturday.
Cardiff on the other have had back-to-back setbacks after losing to out-of-form duo Luton and Blackburn. The Bluebirds were six unbeaten prior to that at least, so they know it is more than probable they will bounce back to form at some stage. They are, however, without an away victory all season.
⭐ Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff Best Bets
The main motivation for the Owls here is to simply try and kick on and remove the afterthoughts of losing to arch-rivals Sheffield United in their previous game. They’ve had the international break to dwell on it even further, so they’ll just want to get back out onto the pitch and get three points for the fans.
There is no reason why they can’t do it, especially facing a Cardiff side winless away from home all season. Although they’ve had some tough trips in that period, it could soon become a mentality thing as they are undoubtedly more positive in how they play at home, and will have greater belief. The Bluebirds are also overachieving on their xG in league action and perhaps recently that is starting to catch up with them, having lost back-to-back matches.
👕 Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff Predicted XI
🔍 Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff Players to Watch
⚪ Josh Windass
Even despite spending time out injured on a few occasions this season, Josh Windass is still Sheff Wed’s top scorer with four goals. He clearly is such an important part of Danny Röhl’s squad and when fit, he plays.
The 30-year-old has been especially busy in recent games from an attacking perspective. Across his previous four league appearances, the attacker is averaging 2.50 shots and 1.25 shots on target, which also resulted in one goal scored.
Another telling and interesting statistic that supports this is the fact Wednesday are ranked fourth in the league for xG created in home games. They really do pile on the pressure at Hillsborough and Windass is just the type to be front and centre of their attacking presence.
📂 Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff Cheat Sheet
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💻 Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff Form and Tactics
Since returning from the October international break, Sheffield Wednesday have won two, drew one and lost three in Championship action. This reflects their general inconsistency and explains partly why they are in and around the middle region of the league table. Therefore, they are somewhat unpredictable at the best of times but there is one factor they have excelled in. This team have won the joint-most games in the division when conceding the opening goal, along with Watford.
It is a must for Sheff Wed to be clinical in front of goal on a count of them only bettering the xG of Plymouth in the Championship so far. Danny Röhl’s side have failed to score in 50% of their last eight league encounters, so it is no shock that only one other side, Preston, have failed to score in as many matches in the league this season. They’ve also gone four straight league meetings losing the xG battle on the day, despite winning two of those.
Another possible reason for their in-and-out results is the fact they are quite content playing on the counter-attack. They only average 44% ball possession, a figure that only betters that of three other teams in the Championship. It means they are used to coming under pressure and with them conceding an average of 12.40 fouls per league game. This is ranked eighth-highest in the Championship, which suggests they may not handle the pressure so well.
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Cardiff, just like their opponents, are also on a four-match run in the league of losing the xG battle. This provides clarity and context to how well they have or haven’t been performing recently. There is still no doubt they’ve improved since Omer Riza took interim charge on a count of 14 of their 15 points this season coming under his stewardship. Three of their four victories with Riza at the helm came alongside a clean sheet.
One statistic which won’t please he Bluebirds is knowing only Portsmouth have conceded more goals from outside the box in league action than they have. This could be because of their PPDA (Passes Per Defensive Action) of 13.46; the sixth-largest in the division. This means the opposition are generally enjoying more passes and possession because Cardiff’s pressing intensity isn’t so high. Boosting that may reduce the likelihood of conceding from range.
Only four of the previous 12 matches for Cardiff featured both teams scoring. Just the four of those would also involve over 2.5 goals. The common theme for Cardiff of late therefore is not to expect many goals either way, although two of their last three league fixtures did have three or more within them. Remember, this is a team with only three away league goals all season, with only Plymouth managing fewer in the Championship.
🏁 Sheffield Wednesday v Cardiff Ref Watch
- Referee: Andrew Kitchen
- Andrew Kitchen is averaging a high 4.55 cards per game this season, which includes awarding one red card across his nine matches in 2024/25.
- Last season, his cards per game average was 3.21, meaning that this season he is seemingly less lenient.
- This season, he has still awarded two penalties over the nine contests he has officiated, which is an average of one every 4.5 matches. In 2023/24 Championship encounters, Kitchen on average gave one penalty every 4.8 games.
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* I recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
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