Friday 21 March 2014
An in-depth match preview of the Premier League fixture
between Cardiff and Liverpool at Cardiff City Stadium on 22nd March,
Saturday, 2014, kick-off 20:45
Saturday March 22 2014
Cardiff vs. Liverpool
Cardiff City Stadium
Kick-off: 20:45
Cardiff:
Both teams need all three points but for very different
reasons. Cardiff will continue their struggle in the relegation zone as they
welcome title chasers Liverpool on Saturday at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Cardiff will somewhat be inspired by their last league
performance against Everton when they were just marginally defeated by an
injury time goal.
The hosts will be hoping for the return of defender Ben
Turner who will surely provide a boost in morale for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer,
facing quite a difficulty to overcome the Bluebirds current drought.
However, left back Andrew Taylor is still not deemed fit for
the clash while skipper Mark Hudson is out for the rest of the season due to a
hamstring injury.
Liverpool:
After winning five successive games in the Premier League,
momentum for the Reds is quite high, as they aim to keep the Welsh side at bay.
Liverpool here will look forward to keep their title hopes
alive as they trail league leaders Chelsea by four points with a match in hand.
The Reds have a competitive edge on the weekend’s results as Chelsea have to
host another title contender, Arsenal at the Stamford Bridge.
Brendan Rodgers can go into the match without any injury
problem. He is more likely to select the same strategy and lineup that defeated
Manchester United 3-0 last week at the Old Trafford.
Both midfielders MamadouSakho and Lucas Leiva returned from
their long term absence as they go onto the final stages of the Premier League.
ads:
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Cardiff City (5-4-1):
Lewis, Marshall, Amondarain, Caulker,
Connolly, Hudson, John, Fabio, McNaughton, Taylor, Theophile-Catherine, Turner,
Cowie, Daehli, Eikrem, Gunnarsson, Kim, Medel, Mutch, Noone, Whittingham,
Bellamy, Berget, Campbell, Jones, Smith, Zaha.
Liverpool (4-1-2-1-2):
Jones, Mignolet, Agger, Cissokho,
Coates, Enrique, Flanagan, Johnson, Kelly, Sakho, Skrtel, Toure, Alberto,
Allen, Gerrard, Henderson, Ibe, Lucas, Aspas, Coutinho, Moses, Sterling,
Sturridge, Suarez.
Match Appointments
Referee: Neil Swarbrick. Assistants: R West, J Flynn. Fourth
Official: L Collins.
Key Points:
Liverpool won their last two games 3-0 making it their first
back-to-back clean sheets since September. In offence, they have scored at
least one goal in every Premier League game since their clash with The Gunners
in early November.
Cardiff have scored 74% of their goals, in the second half,
highest in the league, which will create a much higher probability of them
minimizing the deficit late in the game.
