Cardiff Vs Liverpool - English Premier League - Sunday 21st April 16:00 - Match Preview
The season is drawing to a close and the race for the title is proving to be one of the most fiercely contested in history. With just four games left to play, Liverpool is 2nd in the league with an incredible 85 points, ahead of them sits Manchester City a point clear on 86 after today's victory against Spurs. Liverpool can pile the pressure on their rivals once again though by adding 3 more points when they visit Cardiff on Sunday, the Welsh side will not make it easy for The Reds though as they battle to escape the relegation zone and remain in the Premier League.
Liverpool comes into the game in great form, 5 league wins on the bounce as well as sealing their place in the Champions League semi-finals with a 6-1 aggregate win against Porto. Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp made a series of changes for the previous game against Porto and is likely to make some more ahead of this one. Joe Gomez came off the bench in the 2nd half to make his return following his leg break and will be hopefully of coming back into the side and re-establishing the formidable centre back partnership with Virgil van Dijk. In midfield, Jordan Henderson has been making a solid case for Klopp to continue playing him in a more attacking role after providing another assist when he came off the bench against Porto, putting it on a plate for Firmino as he did for Mane in the game against Chelsea last Sunday. The Liverpool captain should start and it is likely Klopp will also recall Naby Keita back into the side to play alongside Fabinho. Divock Origi was selected in the attack against Porto but was substituted at halftime, each of Mane, Salah and Firmino got their names on the scoresheet and are almost certain to lead the line for Liverpool against Cardiff.
Cardiff find themselves in the battle for survival and sits 18th in the league, 3 points behind Brighton in 17th place. But Neil Warnock's men gave themselves a hope that they could get remain in the Premier League for another season when they defeated Brighton 0-2 last time out ending a run of 3 straight defeats. Sol Bamba, Callum Paterson and Harry Arter are all ruled out with injuries while Aron Gunnarsson will be assessed before the game after suffering from back spasms. Warnock does not have any consistent goalscorers at his disposal and Niasse who is likely to be leading the line for him against Liverpool has yet to score a Premier League goal this season, he will get support from the wings from Holliet and Mendez-Laing who scored last time out against Brighton.
On paper, this should be a routine victory for The Reds but Cardiff winning last time out makes it a bit more of a challenge. Both sides need the points just as much as the other, for different reasons and Liverpool will need to be at their best to avoid slipping up and losing ground to City.
come on Cardiff!