Cardiff City vs Fulham Preview – Cardiff City will endeavour to overturn a 2-0 deficit from their Championship playoff semi-final first leg against Fulham when the 2 promotion hopefuls lock horns within the second leg at Craven Cottage on Thursday.
Goals from Josh Onomah and Neeskens Kebano ensured that Fulham came faraway from the Cardiff City Stadium with the whip hand within the tie on Monday.
In a repeat of their 2-0 victory over Cardiff within the regular season only a couple of of weeks ago, Fulham another time produced a dominant performance against the Bluebirds as Scott Parker’s men made the foremost of their journey to the Welsh capital.
Two moments of individual brilliance gave Parker’s side a routine victory within the first leg, with Onomah’s dazzling solo effort followed up by Kebano’s stunning place kick within the dying minutes of the primary leg.
Golden Boot winner Aleksandar Mitrovic will not be part of The Cottagers squad due to minor hamstring problem, but Parker’s side were full value for his or her first-leg triumph and have some extent to prove after missing out on automatic promotion by a mere two points on the ultimate day.
Fulham’s easy victory at the Cardiff City Stadium means the Cottagers have now strung together an eight-match unbeaten streak within the Championship, and Parker’s men are now prepared to welcome Cardiff to a ground where they need picked up seven wins from their last nine.
In contrast, Cardiff have a daunting task on hand to keep their Premier League prospects alive, but Neil Harris has made it clear that the Bluebirds have another 90 minutes to show the tie on its head at Craven Cottage.
Harris aimed a sly dig at Fulham following their celebrations after the primary leg, claiming that “it seemed like that they had won the tie”, as Cardiff’s three-game streak came to a disappointing endways their own turf on Monday.
Fulham will definitely be considered the favourites to reach Wembley, where Brentford dwell wait following their 3-2 aggregate victory over Swansea City in their semi-final clash, but Cardiff nevertheless boast a terrific recent record on the road with six wins from their last eight outings faraway from home.
Despite this era of monetary uncertainty within the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the playoff final is understood because the richest game in football and both Cardiff and Fulham are going to be fully conscious of what’s at stake once they exit onto the Craven Cottage turf in midweek.
Fulham Championship form: WWDWDW
Cardiff City Championship form: LLWWWL
Parker has vocal about his optimism over Mitrovic’s return for the second leg, with the Serbian having notched up 26 goals within the 2019-20 campaign, including the opener against Cardiff within the July 10 meeting.
Ivan Cavaleiro is Fulham’s only long-term injury concern at the minute, but Parker are getting to be reluctant to make too many alterations to his side following a dominant first leg.
However, should Mitrovic come to spearhead the Fulham attack, Bobby Reid would likely sink to the bench in what might be the only change for the Cottagers.
With regards to Cardiff, Harris could recall Josh Murphy to the side, with the 25-year-old in contention to exchange Nathaniel Mendez-Laing on the proper flank.
The Bluebirds are still missing Isaac Vassell, although fellow long-term absentee Greg Cunningham is reportedly training at full capacity before the second leg.
Fulham possible starting lineup
Reed, Cairney, Rodak, Christie, Ream, Hector, Bryan, Knockaert, Onomah, Kebano; Mitrovic
Cardiff City possible starting lineup
Ralls, Pack, Smithies, Bacuna, Morrison, Nelson, Bennett, Murphy, Tomlin, Hoilett; Glatzel
Cardiff City vs Fulham Prediction | Fulham 2-1 Cardiff City
Fulham are considerably on track to succeed in the 2019-20 Championship playoff final as they appear to win promotion straight back to the highest flight, but the Cottagers must negotiate another gruelling 90 minutes against a Cardiff City side with similar aspirations of an instantaneous return to the Premier League.
While the away side got to feel capable of causing the Fulham defence many problems on Thursday, the potential return of Mitrovic would give the Cottagers a further attacking edge and that we are backing Parker’s men to march to victory and book their spot within the final.
Sources: Sportsmole, Twitter
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