Wolves vs Cardiff City (preview)

Cardiff City travel to the West Midlands for a controversial game against Wolverhampton Wanderers tomorrow. The game has been moved forward to 1pm and Cardiff City fans have been banned from the stadium leading a small group of fans to hire a blimp from which to follow the game from the airspace above Molineux.

Cardiff City won 4-0 in the home fixture this season but things are very different to then. The free-flowing football and crucially an ability to score were features of Cardiff`s play back then but they are struggling for performances, results and goals of late.

Almost 500 minutes have passed since Steve Thompson`s brace against Plymouth on Boxing day, in a winless run now stretching to 13 games. Eight of those games have ended level, one against Premiership side Spurs but 5 goals in 13 is extremely worrying for a side looking bereft of confidence and severely lacking in creativity.

Wolves have also slipped off the pace in recent weeks and lie in 10th place in the Championship. Consistency has been their downfall and although recent results have generally been good, back to back defeats against Southend and Leicester along with defeat to surprise package Colchester have prevented them from gaining any real momentum.

Wolves` top scorer Leon Clarke recently moved to Sheffield Wednesday and has yet to be replaced by the Midlands club although they have tied up the permanent signings of defender Neill Collins and midfielder Darren Potter. They will look to Seyi Olofinjana for goals against the Bluebirds whilst big Welshman Craig Davies looks for his first league goal for the club.

With Cardiff extremely prone to 0-0 draws lately (4 deadlocks in 7 games), and Wolves having gone 37 league games without such a result, the game is very unpredictable. Both clubs have had a turbulent time off the pitch of late with Cardiff`s takeover deal going through, and Wolves rejecting a deal led by Graeme Souness, it remains to be seen how off-field matters will affect either side with the lack of away supporters in the stadium also a sour point.

Wolves have scored in each of their last 13 games, a worrying statistic given Cardiff`s current inability to score. Cardiff really need to get three points soon to restart their season and this game offers a realistic chance. Wolves are a good side but are undergoing transition at the moment and Cardiff could do with taking advantage.

A tentative prediction of a 2-1 win for the Bluebirds. Please?
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