Back Cardiff to keep Man City at bay on home Premier League debut
Published:One match into the Premier League season and Manchester City have already signalled their intent to reclaim the title with a 4-0 win over Newcastle United.
Cardiff were poor in losing 2-0 at West Ham, but any fears the Bluebirds will be on the end of a hammering in their second fixture are unfounded, and they should be backed to keep a clean sheet at 11/2.
Under Roberto Mancini, City had a poor record away at newly-promoted sides, losing two and drawing one out of six matches over the past two seasons.
Last season they drew 0-0 at QPR and lost 3-1 to Southampton, with their only win coming over Reading on the penultimate weekend of the campaign.
They have also failed to score on their two previous trips to Wales to face Swansea, losing 1-0 in 2012 and drawing 0-0 last season.
The goalless draw is priced at 12/1 this time around, and should be considered with Cardiff unlikely to trouble the Manchester City defence despite the absence of Vincent Kompany.
Cardiff’s fine record in the Championship last year also points to a tight match, with the Bluebirds losing just two of their 23 matches at home.
They kept 10 clean sheets and conceded only 15 goals at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Although Manchester City’s attack will pose far bigger problems than their Championship rivals, the Welsh side are clearly comfortable in front of their own fans.
Malky Mackay will have been disappointed by the loss at West Ham, but will set his team up more defensively against Manchester City, and they will be hard to break down.
With the Bluebirds set to host their first Premier League match, the crowd will create a carnival atmosphere that could spur their side on to a good result.
After their irrepressible performance against Newcastle, the temptation will be to back Manchester City to dish out another thrashing, but they could be frustrated by a well-organised Cardiff side.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
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