TEAM NEWS
Bruno Ecuele Manga is expected to start in his place, with Harry Arter and Josh Murphy both hoping to win recalls. Cardiff central defender Sol Bamba will miss the rest of the season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
West Ham are boosted by the return of Aaron Cresswell and Fabian Balbuena, while Manuel Lanzini has shown no ill-effects after his comeback last week.
Jack Wilshere, Winston Reid, Carlos Sanchez and Andriy Yarmolenko are long-term absentees.
MOTD COMMENTATOR’S NOTES
@SimonBrotherton: Wins over Bournemouth and Southampton had taken Cardiff out of the relegation zone but three defeats in a row with an aggregate score of 10-1 has sucked the optimism out of South Wales and leaves them back in the bottom three.
Sol Bamba’s season-ending injury is a further blow and the importance of this weekend’s game can’t be overstated. Cardiff will have to wait three weeks for their next match and face Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool in three of their next four fixtures.
West Ham have won two of their last three games but their away form hasn’t been great, losing four of the last five on the road without scoring.
VIEW FROM THE DUGOUT
Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock: “I don’t think it’s a must-win game. I think it’s a very important game in the circumstances, but there’ll be other games that are must win later in the season.
“The lads have been a bit flat this week, which is understandable because it’s the worst week we’ve had in the Premier League. In management, it’s all about trying to lift them when they’re down.
“We’ve got some good players who are playing below par. It’s about getting the match winners into the team and how they can lift the confidence.”
West Ham United manager Manuel Pellegrini: “Cardiff are playing at home and will try to add points as they want to try to avoid relegation and they are not many points behind the other teams, so we need to be fast, play with a high tempo and be aggressive.
“I remember my first defeat with Manchester City was at Cardiff when they scored from two corners. Of course I want to change that statistic.
“Now we need to play 95 minutes and concentrate on every ball.”
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
Cardiff’s situation does not look too clever, but I am reluctant to write off their survival chances because of their manager.
Just when you think they are down and out, Neil Warnock does seem to have a knack of getting them going again – although I do think West Ham will come out on top on Saturday.
Prediction: 0-2
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- West Ham have won the last seven meetings in league and cup and scored at least twice in each game.
- Cardiff’s only victory in nine versus the Hammers was 1-0 away in the Championship in August 2011.
- The Bluebirds’ solitary home win in the past 11 attempts against West Ham came in the Championship at Ninian Park in November 2004.
Cardiff City
- Cardiff have suffered three successive Premier League defeats by an aggregate score of 10-1, conceding eight goals in their last two home matches.
- Neil Warnock’s side have failed to score in three of their past five home fixtures.
- Cardiff have led at half-time in just one of their 29 league games and scored a league-low seven first-half goals.
- They have let in a joint league-high 12 goals in the last 10 minutes of matches.
- Only Huddersfield have scored fewer goals than Cardiff, while Fulham are the only side to have conceded more.
- Callum Paterson, Cardiff’s four-goal top scorer, has failed to score in his last 12 league appearances.
West Ham United
- West Ham have won twice in three league matches, having previously recorded one victory in seven fixtures.
- The Hammers have lost four of their last five away league matches, failing to score in each defeat.
- They have won only one of their last eight away league games against sides that began the day in the bottom three.
- Marko Arnautovic has been involved in 10 goals in his last 11 league matches against newly-promoted sides, with five goals and five assists.
- Manuel Pellegrini’s first Premier League defeat was away at Cardiff City in August 2013 when at Manchester City – although he has won his subsequent two fixtures against the Bluebirds.
Source: BBC News
