Cardiff v Preston: Tight Friday night tussle fancied in Welsh capital

Cardiff v Preston
Friday 29th December, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports

Cardiff

Cardiff fell to their first home Championship defeat of the season on Boxing Day as the Bluebirds were beaten 4-2 by Fulham. The result was City's second successive reverse and saw Neil Warnock's men drop out of the automatic promotion places for the first time in months.

Having unexpectedly lost at lowly Bolton in their previous outing, Cardiff were boosted byKenneth Zohore's return from injury as the striker started his first game since October. But the Danish striker cut an isolated figure as the hosts looked off the pace against their slicker opponents.

Cardiff struggled to get any kind of a foothold against Fulham but will be hoping Icelandic international Aron Gunnarsson is fit enough to return on Friday having recovered from a serious ankle injury. Elsewhere, towering centre-half Sean Morrison is still sidelined for the home side.

Preston

Preston extended their unbeaten streak to eight matches (W4-D4-L0) on Boxing Day with a 0-0 draw at Barnsley. North End created the better chances and went close to scoring in the first half when Jordan Hugill's shot at the end of a counter-attack hit the post.

The Lilywhites didn't face an on-target effort until the final 10 minutes but when they did, goalkeeper Chris Maxwell made two superb saves in the space of 60 seconds as the Lancashire outfit gained another value point in their push for a top-six finish.

Alex Neil bemoaned his team's lack of invention after half-time but Daryl Horgan looks like retaining his spot on the left-hand side of midfield with Callum Robinson still absent. Meanwhile, Alan Browne is pushing for a recall whilst Darnell Fisher is battling to return in time.

Match Odds

Cardiff are unbeaten in eight (W5-D3-L0) league meetings with Preston dating back to 2004 and the Bluebirds have been chalked up as 2.16 favourites to enhance that record with a ninth triumph in 13 fixtures at their Welsh capital base on Friday night.

Preston's play-off hopes remain alive and healthy with just a four-point deficit left to close and the Lancashire visitors appear generous 3.90 shots to extend their own eight-match unbeaten run (W4-D4-L0) with a fifth win in 13 on their travels this term.

North End have suffered only three defeats in games as guest under Alex Neil and appear to have put their injury woes behind them since early November. However, only one victory in eight at clubs in 15th and above isn't appetising enough to support the away success, leaving the draw an appealing runner at 3.45.

Goals

Cardiff have seen Over 2.5 Goals 2.18 backers collect in seven of their last 10 tussles when welcoming top-half teams and it's been a similar outcome in seven of Preston's previous nine trips to clubs occupying top-six positions.

In fact, North End have seen Over 3.5 Goals punters profit in five of those nine visits to sides in play-off places, suggesting Friday night's fixture could produce a hatful of goals.

However, only three of the Lilywhites' eight outings against teams above them in the Championship table have featured more than two goals with only two paying out in the Both Teams To Score column.

Just three of Cardiff's eight meetings with teams in ninth or above have followed suit in the BTTS market, making a repeat well worth supporting at attractive 2.00 odds here.