It is the South Wales Derby this weekend as Cardiff City travel down the M4 to the Swansea.com Stadium for the first landmark fixture of the new season.

Swansea will be full of confidence going to Sunday’s match, having beaten Preston North End 3-0 in their first home game of the season last weekend.

Goals from Matt Grimes, Azeem Abdullai, and Zan Vipotnik have given manager Luke Williams a selection headache ahead of this game.

While he may opt for a midfield three of Grime, Jay Fulton, and Gonçalo Franco for added solidity, that would leave Williams with only three forwards to choose from.

Ronald was excellent against Preston after being handed a start, while Eom Ji-Sung won the penalty to open the scoring. Ollie Cooper and Liam Cullen are the incumbents in central areas, but with Vipotnik’s form in this fixture, he may start.

That is not to mention Abdullai, who has been lively this season.

Cardiff, on the other hand, are suddenly in the position of badly needing a win. Their 5-0 trashing by Burnley last Saturday leaves them bottom of the Championship.

Manager Erol Bulut may need to rethink his midfield, as Joe Ralls, Aaron Ramsey, and Manolis Siopis were too easy to play through at Turf Moor.

The derby offers Cardiff a chance to get their season going and knock Swansea off their perch. What better motivation is there.

The Starter To The Main Course

Before the derby on Sunday, Wrexham welcome Reading to Cae Ras looking to continue their unbeaten start to the early League One season.

Wrexham have not beaten Reading for 26 years but this statistic is somewhat misleading: their last meeting came in December 2001.

On that day, Alan Pardew managed a Reading side captained by current Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson to a 2-0 win over the North Wales side.

As far as the team is concerned, with Paul Mullin still injured, an unchanged line-up is to be expected. Ollie Palmer and Jack Marriott’s partnership is growing, while Seb Revan has slotted into the right wing-back role well since signing from Aston Villa.

Newport’s Chance To Build

After their much-needed 3-1 victory over Doncaster Rovers last Saturday, new boss Nelson Jardim has the chance to put a run of wins together with a home game against Accrington Stanley this weekend.

Accrington are winless this season, having been beaten 4-1 by Doncaster on the first weekend before being dumped out of the League Cup in a 3-0 loss to Tranmere.

The Lancashire outfit threw away a potential first win of the season against Harrogate Town, coming back from 2-1 down to 3-2 up, only to draw 3-3 tanks to a 93rd minute winner from Sam Folarin.

With home fans hoping to celebrate a second win in as many games, the club will also be celebrating some faces from the past with several members of the club’s players and staff from their instrumental return to life in 1989.

Cymru Premier Action

Haverfordwest County have the chance to go six points clear of favourites The New Saints (TNS) if they overcome Penybont this Friday evening.

Penybont will be no pushovers, however. The south coast side have a win and a draw from their first two games.

Elsewhere, Flint Town face a tough trip to Bala Town as they look for a first win back in the Prem. Briton Ferry face the same predicament: a confident Cardiff Met travelling west looking for points.

Caernarfon are also on the hunt for a first win of the season and will be travelling to Newtown on Friday night.

And finally, Aberystwyth host Barry Town with both sides yet to win this season.

Fixtures:

Friday 23rd

19:45

Bala Town vs Flint Town United

Briton Ferry vs Cardiff Met

Haverfordwest County vs Penybont

Newtown vs Caernarfon Town

20:00

Aberystwyth Town vs Barry Town United

Saturday 24th

15:00

Wrexham vs Reading

Newport County vs Accrington Stanley

Sunday 25th

15:00

Swansea City vs Cardiff City

Monday 26th

14:30

Barry Town vs Newtown

Caernarfon Town vs Bala Town

Cardiff Met vs Haverfordwest County

Flint Town vs Connah’s Quay

Penybont vs Aberystwyth

 

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