PREM: Cardiff v Man City preview

Cardiff v Man City preview

Manchester City will look to respond to their shock Champions League defeat to Lyon when they travel to Cardiff City on Saturday.

Pep Guardiola's men went down 2-1 at home in midweek with their manager watching on from the stands due to a UEFA touchline ban as City were punished for a unusually sloppy display.

However, City's record against newly-promoted teams is imperious, winning 23 and losing only one of their last 31 meetings with teams new to the league. That defeat came five years ago against Burnley.

Neil Warnock's men are one of four teams in the Premier League yet to pick up a win this season. They have had the fewest shots on target and successful passes by any club in the league as a lack of quality in the final third has hampered their progress.

The last time Warnock played Manchester City in a Premier League fixture was when Crystal Palace lost 3-0 in 2014 - he was sacked seven days later.

 

The clubs met in a controversial FA Cup fourth-round tie in January which City won 2-0. The game was overshadowed by a bad Joe Bennett tackle which left City winger Leroy Sane with ankle ligament damage.

City manager Guardiola was furious with Cardiff's combative style and responded by calling for players to receive greater protection from referees.

"I totally agree with him (Guardiola)," Warnock said. "Sane missed three games, but if you watched in the 50th minute there was a tackle from Kevin De Bruyne on Jazz Richards that put him out for 17 games.

"So I would say which is the worst? That sounds like a worse tackle than Bennett's, but we didn't make a song and dance about that.

"There were one or two naughty things we didn't get and everybody wrote about the one tackle that Benno knows was a disgrace. De Bruyne didn't even get booked, but he caught his knee badly and it should have been at least a yellow card."

 

Cardiff midfielder Aron Gunnarsson has suffered a setback in his recovery from a knee injury.

The Iceland international is yet to feature for his club this season. Warnock is due to assess several of his players who are carrying minor knocks but Harry Arter is set to return after illness.

Man City will definitely be without Eliaquim Mangala, Claudio Bravo and Kevin De Bruyne.

There are also doubts regarding the fitness of Benjamin Mendy, meaning Fabian Delph will start at full-back once again.

Sergio Aguero has recovered from his ankle injury and should replace Gabriel Jesus in attack.