CARDIFF. Cardiff City and Watford draw 1-1. M. McGuinness scored the first goal (26′) for Cardiff City. V. Issouf settled the score (54′). Watford was not able to win even if it was superior in terms of ball possession (56%)

The match was played at the Cardiff City Stadium stadium in Cardiff on Sunday and it started at 1:00 am local time. The referee was Gavin Ward with the assistance of Adam Crysell and Lee Venamore. The 4th official was Ben Speedie. The weather was light rain. The temperature was pleasant at 16.67 degrees Celsius or 62.01 Fahrenheit. The humidity was 67%.​

Match Statistics​

Ball possession

Watford had a superior ball possession 56% while Cardiff City was struggling with a 44% ball possession.

Attitude and shots

Watford was more aggressive with 32 dangerous attacks and 8 shots of which 1 were on target. Nonetheless, that was not enough Watford to win the match​.

Cardiff City shot 8 times, 3 on target, 3 off target. On the opposite side, Watford shot 8 times, 1 on target, 5 off target.

Cards

Cardiff City didn’t receive any yellow card. Regarding the opposition, Watford received 2 yellow cards (Jamal Lewis and Francisco Sierralta).

Standings

After this encounter, Cardiff City will have 17 points like Norwich City, Hull City and Southampton to sit in the 8th place. On the opposite side, Watford will have 10 points like Stoke City to hold in the 20th place.

Next matches

In the next match in the Championship, Cardiff City will play away with Birmingham City on the 10th of April with a 12-4 head to head stats in favor of Cardiff City (9 draws).

Watford will play away agasint Ipswich Town on the 10th of April with a 13-3 head to head record in favor of Watford (3 draws).

Cardiff City – Formation

Cardiff City adopted the aggressive line-up (4-3-3).

The manager Erol Bulut decided to play with the following team: Jak Alnwick (5.6), Perry Ng (7.3), Dimitris Goutas (7.7), Mark McGuinness (7.7), Jamilu Collins (7.0), Ryan Wintle (7.0), Manolis Siopis (7.0), Joe Ralls (7.0), Ollie Tanner (6.6), Ike Ugbo (6.3) and Karlan Grant (6.7).

The home team had on the bench: Mahlon Romeo, Callum Robinson (6.3), Rúnar Alex Rúnarsson, Josh Bowler (6.3), Ebou Adams, Romaine Sawyers (6.7), Jonathan Panzo, Kieron Evans and Rubin Colwill.

Cardiff City could not rely on the presence of Callum Robinson (injured), Josh Bowler (injured) and Romaine Sawyers (injured).

Substitutions

Cardiff City made 3 changes: Joe Ralls for Callum Robinson (58′), Ollie Tanner for Josh Bowler (70′) and Ike Ugbo for Romaine Sawyers (87′).

Best player: Dimitris Goutas​

The player that probably impressed the most for Cardiff City was Dimitris Goutas.

His rating is (7.7) with 69 passes (81% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 9 duels out of 10.

Watford – Formation

Also Watford adopted the aggressive line-up (4-3-3).

Valérien Ismaël played with: Daniel Bachmann (6.6), Jeremy Ngakia (7.0), Francisco Sierralta (7.0), Wesley Hoedt (7.7), Jamal Lewis (6.7), Edo Kayembe (7.3), Jake Livermore (7.0), Tom Dele-Bashiru (6.8), Yaser Asprilla (6.6), Vakoun Issouf Bayo (7.9) and Matheus Martins (6.4).

These were the players on the bench: Ryan Porteous (7.3), Imrân Louza (6.4), Ismael Koné, Rhys Healey, Giorgi Chakvetadze, Thomas Ince (6.6), M. Rajović (6.4), Ben Hamer and James Morris.

Watford could not rely on the presence of Ryan Porteous (injured).

Substitutions

Watford made 4 changes: Tom Dele-Bashiru for Imrân Louza (59′), Yaser Asprilla for Thomas Ince (59′), Francisco Sierralta for Ryan Porteous (64′) and Matheus Martins for M. Rajović (85′).

Best player: Vakoun Issouf Bayo​

Following our analysis, the most impressive player for Watford was Vakoun Issouf Bayo.

His rating is (7.9) with 1 goal, 35 passes (80% accurate) and 0 key passes. He was won 8 duels out of 15.

Results of the day

These are the results of the day in the Championship.​

• Sunderland – Middlesbrough – 0-4
• Southampton – Rotherham United – 1-1
• Sheffield Wednesday – Huddersfield Town – 0-0
• Queens Park Rangers – Blackburn Rovers – 0-4
• Plymouth Argyle – Swansea City – 1-3
• Millwall – Hull City – 2-2
• Leicester City – Stoke City – 2-0
• Leeds United – Bristol City – 2-1
• Ipswich Town – Preston North End – 4-2
• Coventry City – Norwich City – 1-1
• Cardiff City – Watford – 1-1