Official Sunderland Not606 Match Thread: Cardiff City Vs Sunderland please log in to view this image Cardiff City Stadium please log in to view this image Match Appointments Referee: Chris Foy. Assistants: P Kirkup, M Wilkes. Fourth Official: L Mason. Sunderland will be looking to build on their morale-boosting victory over Everton when they travel to Wales to take on Cardiff City on Saturday. The Black Cats won their first match away from home in the Premier League since April on Boxing Day when they got the better of Roberto Martinez's side 1-0 at Goodison Park, inflicting on the Toffees their first home defeat of the season in the process. That victory did not pull Sunderland off the foot of the table, but did extend their unbeaten run to four matches in all competitions. Gus Poyet's side will now travel to Cardiff with renewed hope and vigour, especially as the Bluebirds are in bad shape, both on the pitch and off it. While the row between manager Malky Mackay and club owner Vincent Tan continues to rumble on, results keep on getting worse. Cardiff went down 3-1 to Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday despite a spirited second-half performance and were hammered 3-0 by Southampton at home on Boxing Day. Cardiff have won just once in eight matches in the league and have dropped to 16th in the standings on 16 points, just three points ahead of bottom-side Sunderland and ahead of the relegation zone only on goal difference. Cardiff City Team News Cardiff boss Mackay could have the services of Gary Medel for the Premier League clash against Sunderland. The defensive-minded player missed the Bluebirds' 3-0 defeat to Southampton on Boxing Day with flu, but could be fit for the match against Gus Poyet's side at the Cardiff City Stadium. Andreas Cornelius and Declan John could start after coming off the bench against the Saints, although Craig Bellamy will remain on the sidelines with a knee injury. Sunderland Team News Sunderland will be without the services of Wes Brown again, as the defender will continue to serve his three-match suspension. Fellow defender John O'Shea is nursing a shoulder problem and may not be fit enough for Saturday's match. Goalkeeper Keiren Westwood and defender Carlos Cuellar are confirmed absentees with shoulder and hip injuries respectively. Vincent Tan [video=youtube;PHTVuP5P4ok]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHTVuP5P4ok[/video] Poyet "Mistakes, sometimes they define moments in the game and it was a big mistake for them. "We took advantage and I'm pleased that we were able to hold today because you saw the reaction of the fans. It means so much for them. "We didn't win too many this year, so we were trying to finish 2013 - it didn't look a good year for us - but it looks like we're going to finish a bit better." He added: "We are still down in there, at the bottom, but I'm sure if we can pick up another win between now and the 1st of January, the second part of the season is going to be very good." Last 4 Meetings [table="width: 500, class: grid, align: center"] [tr] [td]Season[/td] [td]Date[/td] [td]Home[/td] [td]Score[/td] [td]Away[/td] [td]Competition[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2006/2007[/td] [td]Sat 31 Mar[/td] [td]Cardiff City[/td] [td]0-1[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Championship[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2006/2007[/td] [td]Tue 31 Oct[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]1-2[/td] [td]Cardiff[/td] [td]Championship[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2004/2005[/td] [td]Sat 26 Feb[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]2-1[/td] [td]Cardiff[/td] [td]Championship[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]2004/2005[/td] [td]Sat 11 Dec[/td] [td]Cardiff[/td] [td]0-2[/td] [td]Sunderland[/td] [td]Championship[/td] [/tr] [/table] What the 'Experts' Say please log in to view this image Lawrenson Let's face it, Malky Mackay's departure as Cardiff boss was no shock. His relationship with owner Vincent Tan meant Mackay was always waiting for the phone to ring, and then his team played so poorly in their Boxing Day defeat against Southampton. While Mackay was being threatened with the sack earlier in December, his team were being very competitive in games which deflected the focus back on to Tan for putting Mackay under pressure. But, with they way they performed in their defeat against the Saints, they did completely the opposite. We had been waiting for Tan to make a decision and now he has made it. Now we have to wait and see what he does next. This is a huge game for both teams. Sunderland got a big win against Everton, which might end up being a turning point in their season. They hung on to win and, for the first time in what seemed like a long time, they got the rub of the green in a game. Now all Black Cats boss Gus Poyet needs to do is stop his players from getting themselves sent off, and get Steven Fletcher scoring goals again. Lawro's prediction: 1-1 Merson All the rubbish that's been going on with the Cardiff owner and what he's been saying caught up with the players on Boxing Day and was reflected on the pitch against Southampton. Losing 3-0 at home to them - and being 3-0 down at half-time - was a shocking result. Southampton haven't been doing great so to be whipped like that was bad from Cardiff. I think Sunderland are down and I said three weeks ago they're out of it, even though they've got decent players like Wes Brown and John O'Shea at the back. But I expect them to win this game after an unbelievable result at Everton. I didn't see that coming in a month of Sundays! Whatever the result, I hope Malky Mackay is still in charge of Cardiff after this game - if he isn't they'll get relegated. If the owner wants them to stay up then Malky is the man to do it. But they need to get things sorted out off the field because it dragged onto the pitch on Thursday. PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2 Facts n Stats Bottom side Sunderland have lost just three times in their last 10 games. Sunderland have kept 5 clean sheets in their last 8 league games. Sunderland have won their last two trips to Cardiff in the league without conceding. Cardiff City have not lost three league games in succession since November 2009. Sunderland have lost more points from leading positions than any other side this season (11) in the Premier League. Betting please log in to view this image Links please log in to view this image
Cardiff have big problems and this really is the best time to play them ......... I don't give a toss about people saying 'yes but this is Sunderland'. If we were ever going to win this game we had to hope that Cardiff's initial enthusiasm and togetherness would wear off. That seems to be the case and I think we can resist their weak attack and snatch another close win. Haway Lads!!!!!!!!!
Merson All the rubbish that's been going on with the Cardiff owner and what he's been saying caught up with the players on Boxing Day and was reflected on the pitch against Southampton. Losing 3-0 at home to them - and being 3-0 down at half-time - was a shocking result. Southampton haven't been doing great so to be whipped like that was bad from Cardiff. I think Sunderland are down and I said three weeks ago they're out of it, even though they've got decent players like Wes Brown and John O'Shea at the back. But I expect them to win this game after an unbelievable result at Everton. I didn't see that coming in a month of Sundays! Whatever the result, I hope Malky Mackay is still in charge of Cardiff after this game - if he isn't they'll get relegated. If the owner wants them to stay up then Malky is the man to do it. But they need to get things sorted out off the field because it dragged onto the pitch on Thursday. PAUL PREDICTS: 0-2
OP updated. Added a couple of my own Stats as Sky refuse to publish the obvious stats that would put a positive spin on our present plight.
Same team, stick with a winning side even if Oshea is fit. If either team score they'll win 1-0. If its us the fans will turn on.Tam and create a negative atmosphere for the players. If Cardiff score first the fans will focus on the team and get behind them till ft. We have to take advantage of this situation and not let Cardiffs agrievement inspire their players. If we win we dont just drag ourselves up i think we hammer a nail in Cardiffs coffin.
And yet, from before the Everton game... More proof these so-called experts just make it up as they go along!
