Cardiff City host Preston this weekend in the Championship. Both sides are nestled in the tight mid table, needing a win to either make the jump to the Play-off places or to get in the top half of the table.
Cardiff currently sit 13th in the Championship after 29 games. The Blue Birds have 12 wins, four draws and 13 losses, leaving them on 40 points, just one point from the top of the table.
In their last five games in all competitions, Cardiff have two wins and three losses.
Cardiff opened the scoring against QPR through Dimitrios Goutas in the first half. Paul Smyth equalised early in the second half, but a goal from Perry Ng gave Cardiff the 2 - 1 win, despite having just 36% of the possession. The Third Round of the FA Cup, Cardiff took on fellow Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. Josh Windass, Liam Palmer and Mallik Wilks all scored and along with an own goal from Romaine Sawyers in the 4 - 0 win for Sheffield Wednesday.
Back in the Championship, Cardiff hosted Leeds. Patrick Bamford and Daniel James gave Leeds the 2 - 0 lead at halftime and Georginio Rutter added a third in the 3 - 0 win for Leeds. Ng was on the scoresheet again for Cardiff, opening the scoring against Plymouth Argyle. However, a brace from Ryan Hardie and a goal from Morgan Whittaker gave Plymouth the 3 - 1 win.
The last time out for Cardiff was against Watford. Josh Bowler scored the only goal of the game just before the halftime whistle to give Cardiff the 1 - 0 win, despite Watford having 62% of the possession and 17 shots with six of those shots on target.
Preston sit just above them in tenth in the Championship. In 30 games, Preston have 12 wins, six draws and 12 losses which leaves them on 42 points, just three points from Hull City in sixth.
In their last five games in all competitions, Preston have two wins, one draw and two losses.
In the Third Round of the FA Cup, Preston faced Premier League Chelsea. Armando Broja, Thiago Silva, Raheem Sterling and Enzo Fernandez all scored in the 4 - 0 win for Chelsea, with Preston having just two shots on target. Back in the Championship, Preston hosted Bristol City. Will Keane grabbed a second half brace to give Preston the 2 - 0 win.
Keane was on the scoresheet again for Preston, this time against Leeds in the second minute. James equalised just four minutes later and a 94th minute penalty from Joel Piroe gave Leeds the 2 - 1 win. It was another early goal, this from Zian Flemming for Millwall in the fifth minute. However, Brad Potts equalised for Preston before halftime, but neither team could find another goal, despite having 12 shots on target in total, as the game finished 1 - 1.
The most recent outing for Preston was against Ipswich Town. Despite a late brace from Kieffer Moore, a brace from Keane and an own goal from George Edmundson in the first half gave Preston the 3 - 2 win.
Cardiff and Preston have met 102 times in their histories with the first meeting coming back in 1922. Cardiff have the better record in the fixture with 40 wins in comparison to Preston’s 37 wins, with the other 25 games ending in a draw.