Premier League: Bluebirds are still Battling

Burnley vs Cardiff City

Be honest…if anyone had told you Cardiff City would still be in with a chance of survival with six games of the league season remaining would you have believed them?

No me neither. But they are. The Bluebirds are fighting for their lives, and on Saturday they head north to East Lancashire to face Burnley, a team which, until they bagged back-to-back wins, was looking nervously over its shoulder. The Clarets have climbed to 14^th and are probably one win away from safety, while Neil Warnock’s Cardiff sits in 18^th and five points from Southampton in 17^th.

Premier League Burnley vs Cardiff City may not sound the most glamorous of fixtures, but if you want blood, guts and passion then Turf Moor is the place to be on Saturday.

Talking Points

Dwight’s alright for the Clarets

In what has been a difficult season for Burnley they have unearthed a real gem in 19 year old winger Dwight McNeill. With three goals and four assists he has attracted the attention of the England camp, joining the Under 20s recently; and his direct running and superb delivery has been troubling defences right through the league since his arrival on the scene at Christmas. An injury to Robbie Brady gave McNeill his chance and he’s grabbed it with both hands.

This young man is a dead cert to feature in the Burnley vs Cardiff City highlights.

Up front Ashley Barnes and Chris Wood have rediscovered the form of last season and are a real handful for defences, putting Spurs to the sword recently in a 2-1 win at Turf Moor. There isn’t a centre back pairing in the country that would look forward to facing this pair, and now with the supply that McNeill provides they are getting more chances.

Head coach Sean Dyche says his team has got back to doing what they do well after losing their way at the beginning of the season.

Cardiff’s week of destiny

Víctor Camarasa has scored five goals for the Bluebirds this Premier League season — Cardiff City’s Victor Camarasa with team mates during the warm up

A result away to Burnley will keep the Bluebirds in the survival chase but they would need to follow that up with another, preferably a win, when they play Brighton away next Tuesday. The Seagulls are five points ahead of Cardiff, as are Southampton. But while the Saints seem to be on an upward trajectory Brighton has had a poor run since a strong first half of the season.

I would say that four points from those two games would give Cardiff a fighting chance, but getting a point or more at Turf Moor will be a tough task. Victor Camarasa carries the visitors’ biggest threat and is top scoring with five. But Cardiff’s favourite weapon, the long throw, might not get much change out of Burnley’s defensive pair, Ben Mee and James Tarkowski. They need to find a way to score on Saturday and Warnock will have to work hard to solve that one.

The Bluebirds have had a tough run and were unlucky to lose 1-2 at home to Chelsea recently, conceding two late goals, the first a mile offside. But they never lack spirit and will play to the last.

So don’t write them off just yet.

History

Burnley won a hard fought victory in South Wales earlier in the season and are unbeaten in the last four fixtures against Cardiff.

When playing at home, Burnley has not lost to Cardiff in the last ten encounters.

And while Cardiff’s top scorer has five, Ashley Barnes is Burnley’s leading marksman with ten goals and he’s likely to add to that, with the chances supplied by McNeill coming thick and fast.

A year ago, Burnley was seventh in the table with 49 points. Now they are 14^th with 36 points but Dyche will point to last year’s success, resulting in a Europa League fixture clog interrupted his team’s Premier League start.

Betting Tip

	Burnley vs Cardiff City	Burnley 1×2 @ 1.94
	April 13, 22:00(GMT+8)

There is a lot of pressure on Cardiff to get something from the next two games, particularly Tuesday’s clash with Brighton as, next up, they have Liverpool to play. Their -33 goal difference means they need two wins more than Brighton over the remaining games. Or three more than Burnley would do.

But they are only in with a shout because of their home form and they are coming up against a Clarets side which has rediscovered its form at the right time. The Burnley vs Cardiff City odds say a home win is odds on and I can’t argue with that.

The draw, with SBOBET, at 3.45 would be a good result for Warnock, a win at 3.80 even better; but Sean Dyche will remind his players that they are not safe yet; so I expect Cardiff’s defence to be the busier on Saturday.