Sky Sports EFL pundit David Prutton has suggested that Cardiff City will edge out Bristol City on Saturday in the early kick-off in the Severnside derby.
The Bluebirds head into the game as one of only six teams still left in the Championship who have not suffered a defeat so far this campaign in the league.
That comes after Mick McCarthy’s side have managed to pick up two wins and two draws in their first four Championship matches.
Those results represent a very solid start to the campaign for the Bluebirds and suggest that they can challenge for a top-six place this term.
Cardiff secured a 3-1 win against Millwall last time out in the Championship and it was a performance that showed they are able to break down solid opponents.
While it also showed that they can edge out teams that could be in and around them in the table come the end of the season.
The Bluebirds though did suffer their first defeat of the season in the League Cup in midweek with a 2-0 loss at home to Premier League Brighton. That result is unlikely to affect them too much here though.
Bristol City, meanwhile, head into the game needing to start picking up some consistent results after they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat at home to Swansea City last time out.
That result means that the Robins have now failed to win any of their last 12 home matches a run that piles pressure on their away form.
Nigel Pearson’s side secured a 3-2 win at Reading in their last away game in the Championship. They will be hoping to repeat a similar type of result and performance in this derby clash against Cardiff.
Making his latest round of predictions for Sky Sports, Prutton suggested that Cardiff will have too much for Bristol City on Saturday and be able to edge them out and win the game 2-1. While he also heaped praise on Aden Flint following his goalscoring exploits at the start of the season.
He wrote: “Anyone else have Aden Flint down as a Golden Boot contender for the season? Two doubles in as many Championship games for the defender is a remarkable return, and up next comes a game against his old side.
“Bristol City lost at home to Welsh opposition in Swansea last Friday night, suggesting their win at Reading may have been a bit of a false dawn. It might be close, but I think it will be a home win.”
The verdict
It is easy to see where Prutton is coming from here with Cardiff having managed to show a lot of character and quality in their opening four league matches of the campaign.
The Bluebirds are showing signs that they can win games and pick up points in different ways and with different levels of performance.
That comes after they followed up a last-minute draw from 2-0 down at Peterborough United with an impressive 3-1 win over Millwall.
Cardiff would seem to have all the momentum heading into this derby clash and considering that they will once again now have the supporters back in the stadium to generate a loud atmosphere they have to be favourites here.
Bristol City will be aiming to pick up a positive result and out down a marker to their supporters that they are starting to make progress under Pearson.
The Robins have the quality within their squad to hurt Cardiff going forwards but they need to start making the most of the chances they create.
It would be an excellent win for them if they can pull it off but it is difficult to see them ending the Bluebirds’ unbeaten start.