Aiming to increase their lead at the head of the Championship standings, second-tier pacesetters Leicester City will travel to South Wales to face Cardiff City on Friday night.

The Foxes' winning run was scuppered by a last-minute Ipswich Town equaliser on Boxing Day, whereas Cardiff were forced to settle for a point against managerless Plymouth Argyle.

Match preview

Following back-to-back losses without finding the net against Wayne Rooney's Birmingham City and Liam Rosenior's Hull City, Cardiff have collected a respectable tally of four points from their last two matches, sharing the spoils with Plymouth at the end of a four-goal thriller on Boxing Day.

The Green Army's talisman Morgan Whittaker fired the visitors into the lead at the Cardiff City Stadium before a calamitous own goal from Matt Butcher and a fierce Karlan Grant strike handed the Bluebirds a second-half advantage, but Plymouth's number 10 bagged his 12th of the term in the closing stages to earn the Pilgrims a point.

With the January transfer window offering Cardiff the opportunity to recruit players for transfer fees for the first time in over a year, manager Erol Bulut is set for crucial discussions before the New Year with club owner Vincent Tan, who will decide how significantly to back the Turkish coach as he chases down the playoffs.

The Bluebirds currently occupy 11th place in the second-tier standings after collecting a highly-respectable tally of 34 points from 24 Championship matches, two points behind Michael Beale's sixth-placed Sunderland, who have experienced a slight wobble since the sacking of Tony Mowbray.

Bulut will need the likes of Yakou Meite and Callum Robinson to step up to the goalscoring plate before reinforcements arrive in the New Year, with the attacking pair netting two goals between them in 41 combined Championship appearances - well below expectations for the duo.

After putting West Bromwich Albion, Plymouth, Millwall, Birmingham and Rotherham United to the sword in the month of December, Leicester City picked on someone their own size at Portman Road on Boxing Day, with Kieran McKenna's Tractor Boys earning a point out of the record-breaking league leaders.

It is no secret that Foxes winger Stephy Mavididi likes to cut in from the left and fire into the bottom-right corner, but it seems that second-tier defences cannot prevent the 25-year-old from doing so as he took his tally to eight goals for the season with a trademark finish past Vaclav Hladky last time out.

The withdrawal of Wilfred Ndidi in the 56th minute allowed second-placed Ipswich to grow into the Boxing Day clash, and they eventually got their reward, with a Sam Morsy strike deflecting off the foot of Ricardo Pereira and Jannik Vestergaard's head before beating Mads Hermansen in the visitors' net.

Although Leicester's five-game winning streak was put to rest in East Anglia, the Foxes' unbeaten run is full of life and stands at eight matches ahead of Friday night's trip to South Wales, with Enzo Maresca's men 11 points ahead of third-placed Southampton after 24 games.

After being excluded from Maresca's first-team thinking during the opening months of the campaign, Patson Daka is enjoying a prolonged spell in the XI and has repaid Maresca's faith, providing six goal contributions from five matches at the focal point of the Foxes' attack.

Team News

Cardiff manager Bulut has provided an update on the recovery of Aaron Ramsey from a long-term injury, with the midfielder expected back in action near the end of January.

The Bluebirds are hoping that winger Callum O'Dowda can make a return for their FA Cup clash with Sheffield Wednesday on January 6, with Friday night's clash coming too soon.

Joe Ralls has been a class act in the engine room alongside Ryan Wintle during the last two matches, and the 30-year-old should restrict Manolis Siopis to a place on the bench once again.

After being rested on Boxing Day, James Justin should replace former England international Conor Coady in the Leicester backline, meaning Wout Faes will slide across to join Vestergaard at centre-back.

Maresca often opts to rotate his midfield trio in the midst of a three-game week, but with Cesare Casadei and Yunus Akgun hardly covering themselves in glory recently, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Harry Winks could start alongside Ndidi in South Wales.

The Foxes remain without the services of Marc Albrighton, Kasey McAteer and Jamie Vardy until the New Year, with the latter's absence allowing Daka to receive regular minutes for the first time this term.

Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; Ng, Goutas, McGuinness, Collins; Ralls, Wintle, Bowler, Colwill, Grant; Etete

Leicester City possible starting lineup:
Hermansen; Pereira, Faes, Vestergaard, Justin; Winks, Ndidi, Dewsbury-Hall; Fatawu, Mavididi, Daka

We say: Cardiff City 0-2 Leicester City

Cardiff produced their best performance in a number of weeks against Plymouth last time out, but a test against the league leaders may prove too much for the Bluebirds.

Leicester will be desperate to return to winning ways following Ipswich's added-time equaliser on Boxing Day, and we believe that the Foxes will be the convincing victors in South Wales.


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