Cardiff City v Preston North End Matched Betting Tips

Cardiff City v Preston North End matched betting tips for the Championship match at Cardiff City Stadium on Friday 29th December. Read the match preview and predictions for Cardiff v Preston matched betting tips.

The Bluebirds have hit a dip in form and dropped to third on goal difference, behind Bristol City. PNE are ten points worse off but could give their chances of finishing in the playoffs a huge boost with a win here.

Cardiff City Team News

Aron Gunnarsson is now available after a lengthy spell on the sidelines but is unlikely to start. Craig Bryson made a successful comeback on Boxing Day and should feature in midfield from the off. Sean Morrison, Lee Camp and Kadeem Harris are injured for the hosts.

Preston North End Team News

Darnell Fisher is a doubt for the visitors, meaning Calum Woods will deputise at right-back. Preston have numerous injuries to contend with including Sean Maguire Tommy Spurr, Greg Cunningham and Joshua Earl. Callum Robinson has a late fitness test and could also mis out at the expense of Daryl Horgan.

Cardiff City v Preston North End Team Predictions

Cardiff 4-2-3-1 formation; Etheridge; Bennett, Bamba, Manga, Paterson; Halford, Ralls, Bryson; Hoilett, Zohore, Mendez-Laing

Preston 4-2-3-1 formation; Maxwell; O’Connor, Huntington, Davies, Woods; Pearson, Gallagher; Horgan, Browne, Barkhuizen; Hugill

Cardiff City v Preston North End betting stats for the last ten games:

• Cardiff – won 6, drawn 1 and lost 3
• Preston – won 4, drawn 4 and lost 2
• Cardiff have scored an average of 1.7 goals and conceded an average of 1.2 goals per game
• Preston have scored an average of 0.8 goals and conceded an average of 0.9 goals per game
• There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 5 of Cardiff’s previous 10 matches
• There have been over 2.5 goals scored in 3 of Preston’s previous 10 matches

Cardiff City v Preston North End Goalscorer

Cardiff Leading Scorers

D J Hoilett – appearances 24, scored 6, first goal 2
J Ralls – appearances 23, scored 5, first goal 3
D Ward – appearances 18, scored 4, first goal 0

Preston Leading Scorers

J Hugill – appearances 23, goals 7, first goals 4
T Barkhuizen – appearances 24, goals 4, first goal 1
S Maguire – appearances 13, goals 4, first goal 1

Cardiff City v Preston North End Predictions

Back to back defeats away to Bolton and at home to Fulham have alarm bells ringing for Neil Warnock’s men. The 2-4 loss to the Cottagers came after an open, end to end game and it could have been different had Cardiff taken a few more of their chances. That’s a positive for the home side here, they create opportunities whereas the visitors have struggled in that department.

Preston are on an eight game unbeaten run but have drawn half of those matches. Their lack of cutting edge was apparent in the 0-0 draw at Barnsley last time out and the Lilywhites will need to fashion a few more chances to get a result here. Although they’re tough to beat, they do tend to let a goal slip away from home, with just three clean sheets on the road this season.

Cardiff are undefeated in their last eight home matches against Preston in all competitions. They simply have to stop the rot and reclaim the all-important automatic promotion position behind Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers. I think that will give the hosts added drive to get the win and a Correct Score bet of 2-1 is advised.