Match Preview: Sunderland v Cardiff City - all you need to know ahead of kick-off!

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Saturday 5th November 2022

(12th) Sunderland v Cardiff City (18th)

Championship

Stadium of Light

Kick-Off: 15:00

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Tickets & Match Coverage

Tickets: Tickets are available via www.safc.com.

TV/Stream: Full live match coverage available via www.safc.com to residents outside the UK and Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man only.

Radio: Full live match commentary available via BBC Radio Newcastle (not online)

Don’t forget to follow the blow-by-blow account of the game on the Roker Report Twitter feed (@RokerReport) and check out the player ratings after the full-time whistle at www.RokerReport.com!

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The build-up...

Now we’ve dried out following our trip to West Yorkshire in midweek we can turn our attention to the visit of Cardiff City this afternoon, which they don’t do all that often - this being their sixth trip to Wearside in the last 40 years.

Today provides a real opportunity for Tony Mowbray to put right something that is currently missing this season - back-to-back wins.

The Championship table is always tight and successive victories has the ability to slingshot you into a completely different outlook on the season ahead, likewise a run of defeats can obviously have the opposite effect.

As well as back-to-back wins in general, we could also do with our boost to our home record. Only two wins from eight played at the Stadium of Light so far and our last time out on home soil saw a second half collapse against Burnley.

No doubt Tony Mowbray will want to ride the goodwill from our midweek win at Huddersfield and take advantage of a Cardiff side struggling for form, especially away from home.

Photo by John Early/Getty Images

After initially finishing in the top half of the table during the first two years following relegation from the Premier League in 2019, Cardiff struggled last season, finishing down in 18th and this season is heading in a similar direction.

Steve Morrison was relieved of his duties as manager back in September, after almost a year in the job when he replaced Mick McCarthy back in October 2021. Seventeen new players were brought into the club during the summer and it didn’t start well for Morrison this season.

Almost seven weeks later, despite the links with the likes of Craig Bellamy, Mark Hudson is still interim manager as he holds out hope of becoming the new official manager of the Bluebirds. Signs are that the club will make that appointment, especially with former Sunderland midfielder Dean Whitehead joining the club as first-team coach this week.

In general, they’re struggling for form, with four defeats in the last five and only three clubs have conceded more goals on their travels in the division this season. It’s a game we should be targeting for all three points.

Photo by David Davies/EMPICS/PA Images via Getty Images

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The betting...

The bookies have Sunderland as clear favourites at 23/20 to collect all three points this afternoon, with Cardiff priced at 12/5 to take the win, while the draw is 11/5.

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Head-to-head... at Sunderland

(All competitions)

• Sunderland wins: 13
• Draws: 11
• Cardiff City wins: 9
• Sunderland goals: 51
• Cardiff City goals: 44

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Last time we met... at the Stadium of Light

Saturday 23rd September 2017

Championship

Sunderland 1 - 2 Cardiff City

[Gooch (pen) 53’ - Bryson 7’, Ralls (pen) 73’]

Sunderland: Ruiter, Matthews, Browning, Kone, Wilson, Oviedo (Robson), Cattermole, Ndong (Asoro), Honeyman (McGeady), Gooch, Vaughan Substitutes not used: Steele, Galloway, O’Shea, Gibson

Cardiff City: Etheridge, Richards, Bennett, Ralls, Morrison, Manga, Mendez-Laing, Gunnarsson (Bamba), Zohore (Bogle), Bryson, Feeney (Hoilett) Substitutes not used: Murphy, Halford, Tomlin, Damour

Attendance: 25,733

Photo by Sunderland AFC/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Played for both...

Gary Bennett

Bennett made his name at Cardiff back in the early 1980s, spending three years there before Len Ashurst brought him to Sunderland in the summer of 1984.

Eleven years, 443 appearances, one League Cup final, one play-off final, one FA Cup final, two promotions and 25 goals later, he would leave Sunderland a legend.

Spells at Carlisle United, Scarborough and Darlington followed before he retired and he now follows the Lads around the country as part of the commentary team for BBC Radio Newcastle.

Photo by Ross Kinnaird - PA Images via Getty Images

Darren Williams

Signed from York City after only a handful of appearances, Williams spent seven years at Sunderland making 239 appearances in that time. In 2004, he joined Cardiff on loan and eventually made the move permanent but didn’t make many appearances for the Bluebirds before quickly signing for Hartlepool United who were then in League One.

Spells at Bradford City, Dundee and Gateshead followed before he hung up his boots.

Photo by Mike Egerton/EMPICS via Getty Images

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