TipResumen

CARDIFF CITY

There won't be any clubs worrying about results on the opening day of the new season, but those matches do give a little insight into where potential problems could be in the months ahead. With the transfer window closed managers have to rely on the squads they have put together so Neil Warnock has to find goals from within his Cardiff City dressing room. It looked like a difficult first game of the season for Cardiff City at the Vitality Stadium, but it is the kind of fixture from which clubs fighting against relegation would circle as a chance for away points. This weekend the live television cameras will come to the Cardiff City Stadium to see the newly promoted club play their first home Premier League game of the season and Warnock surely knows the importance of picking up three points against Newcastle United. Home form was key for Cardiff City in making their way into the Premier League and they won 16 of their 23 home League games in the Championship. Cardiff City have only won 4 of their last 9 games overall going back to last season and they did end the last campaign by winning just 1 of their last 3 at the Cardiff City Stadium. Kenneth Zohore is expected to return this weekend, but Aron Gunnarsson is most likely going to return from injury at the end of the month.



NEWCASTLE UNITED

A tough summer transfer window ended a couple of days before the first game of the Premier League season for Newcastle United and there were more open chants against owner Mike Ashley from the home fans at the end of the 1-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. The mood was not improved by the news that Ashley had purchased a major retailer the day after the transfer window closed as his business portfolio is clearly more important than Newcastle United as a football club that want to improve. At the moment there is no movement of Mike Ashley looking to sell Newcastle United and this is going to be another season where Rafa Benitez' experience as a manager is going to be critical for the club. Benitez has to get more out of his players than is expected of them and this is a big early test for The Magpies to show they can avoid flirting with relegation as they did last season. Newcastle United might have finished mid-table last season but they only finished on 44 points and the 4-4-11 away record has to be improved if they are going to avoid the drop. The opening day defeat to Tottenham Hotspur means Newcastle United have lost 5 of their last 6 Premier League games and they have also been beaten in 4 of their last 5 away from home. DeAndre Yedlin looked to have suffered a serious injury last week and won't be involved in this one. Frederico Fernandez was one player signed just before the close of the transfer window and he could make his debut this weekend.



HEAD TO HEAD

Newcastle United did the League double over Cardiff City in the 2016/17 season when both played in the Championship. Cardiff City have lost their last 5 home games against Newcastle United.



PREDICTION

The opening Premier League game of the weekend comes from Wales as Cardiff City host Newcastle United with both clubs searching for their first points of the 2018/19 season. Last weekend both Newcastle United and Cardiff City conceded twice in defeats to Tottenham Hotspur and Bournemouth respectively and I imagine Rafa Benitez and Neil Warnock will be looking for a big response from the players. You have to say that both squads look short of quality at the Premier League level, but they managers who will believe they can extract more out of their players to overachieve in the coming season. Games like this look to be vital for both and I will admit I was a little surprised Newcastle United are going in as the favourites despite being away from home. Perhaps the layers have factored in the Newcastle United run of 5 successive wins at Cardiff City including when they last met a couple of years ago. It also should be noted that Cardiff City are one of the favourites for relegation and 3 of the 4 wins Newcastle United had away from home came against teams who finished below them including at 2 of the 3 clubs that were eventually relegated. However there has to be a real adrenaline boost for the Cardiff City players in their first home game of the season against a team the fans will believe they can beat. The side were very good at home in the Championship and there was enough shown in the final third last Saturday at the Vitality Stadium to think Cardiff City can cause problems for this Newcastle United team. On the other hand The Magpies should also be able to create some opportunities too and I think the layers are underestimating the chance to see both teams score. I did lean towards backing Cardiff City with the start on the Asian Handicap as the home underdog, but Rafa Benitez showed he can get enough out of his players to win games like this last season in the Premier League and that has to be respected. The feeling is that Cardiff City and Newcastle United both create enough quality chances to score at least once each and so backing both teams to score at odds against looked the better angle of the two I considered