Neil Warnock’s men will attempt to lift themselves clear of the bottom three against opponents who have been on the slide of late
Cardiff City will aim to improve their chances of Premier League survival on Tuesday, when they play host to an out-of-form Everton side.
Neil Warnock’s men suffered a heavy 5-1 defeat by Watford at the weekend but had recorded key wins over Southampton and Bournemouth earlier in the month to move out of the bottom three.
The Toffees, meanwhile, have been as high as sixth in the standings but, since beating Cardiff 1-0 when the sides met in November, have picked up only three wins in 14 league outings.
The pressure is on Marco Silva to turn things around in south Wales.
| Game | Cardiff v Everton |
| Date | Tuesday, February 26 |
| Time | 7:45pm GMT / 2:45pm ET |
In the US the game will not be broadcast live but can be streamed on NBC Sports Gold.
| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | NBC Sports Gold |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will not be available to view live on TV or stream.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | N/A |
| Position | Cardiff players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Etheridge, Smithies, Murphy |
| Defenders | Ecuele Manga, Bamba, Connolly, Cunningham, Bennett, Peltier, Richards |
| Midfielders | Arter, Camarasa, Ralls, Paterson, Gunnarsson, Bacuna, O’Keefe, Damour, Harris, Reid |
| Forwards | Murphy, Hoilett, Mendez-Laing, Zohore, Ward, Healey |
Oumar Niasse is not eligible to play in this fixture, despite featuring in every match for Cardiff since arriving from Everton.
Lee Peltier is a doubt along with midfielder Victor Camarasa, whose injury situation has left manager Neil Warnock frustrated.
Possible Cardiff starting XI: Etheridge; Ecuele Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett; Hoilett, Gunnarsson, Arter, Paterson; Reid, Zohore
| Position | Everton players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Pickford, Stekelenburg |
| Defenders | Coleman, Keane, Digne, Mina, Baines, Kenny, Jagielka, Galloway |
| Midfielders | Gueye, Gomes, Lookman, Sigurdsson, Bernard, Davies, McCarthy, Schneiderlin, Baningime |
| Forwards | Richarlison, Tosun, Walcott, Calvert-Lewin |
Everton have not played for more than two weeks, which has allowed their injury situation to almost entirely clear. There are some lingering doubts over Yerry Mina, who has been missing for a month.
Kurt Zouma is banned.
Possible Everton starting XI: Pickford; Coleman, Keane, Mina, Digne; Gueye, Gomes; Walcott, Sigurdsson, Richarlison; Tosun
Everton are favourites to win this one and are priced at odds of 23/20, according to bet 365 . Cardiff are 11/4 while a draw is available at 12/5.
Click here to see all of bet 365’s offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Everton’s hopes of European football have well and truly faded after they initially made a promising start under the guiding hand of Marco Silva.
After recording a 1-0 win over Cardiff in the autumn, they climbed as high as sixth in the standings but are now 17 points distant of Chelsea, who now occupy that position.
Jordan Pickford’s calamitous last-gasp error against Liverpool, which cost his side a 1-0 loss at Anfield, has triggered a wretched run of form that currently sees the Merseyside club in the midst of a three-game run without even a Premier League point.
They have been inactive since a 1-0 loss to Watford on February 9 due to Manchester City’s participation in the Carabao Cup final at the weekend.
Still, Silva is optimistic that there is a change of fortune just around the corner.
“I am not happy with the results. But to change radically, no,” he said after that loss.
“In February if we try to change everything radically, it means everything we did before did not make sense, which is not what I think.
“We did good things in the first four months, so we have to understand why we do not play the same or play with the same confidence.
“It’s clear to me the fine details are making a big difference in us not getting the results.”
He will hope that the polish that has been missing is present in Cardiff, where his side will come up against opponents hungry to get back to winning ways after losing embarrassingly at home at the weekend.
“We’ve had loads of kicks in the teeth, but we bounce back,” veteran boss Neil Warnock promised. “We’re going to get beat by five if we defend like we did against Watford, but we’re still in there and we’re still punching above our weight, making sure a few clubs around us are still nervous.”
Win on Tuesday, and the tension around their relegation rivals will only crank up a notch.
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