Everton travel to Cardiff on Tuesday on the back of three losses. With the Merseyside Derby the following weekend, the Toffees will be hoping to pick up some much-needed momentum. But with Cardiff flying high following two wins, the Blues will be in for a tough challenge in South Wales.
We spoke to ViewFromTheNinian.com’s Scott Salter to find out what Bluebirds fans are feeling ahead of the midweek clash.
At the start of the season, Cardiff were heavy favourites to get relegated and whilst you aren’t out of danger yet you’ve put up a much better fight than many expected with the squad you have. What has been the key to that?
The Cardiff team is full of fighters. We knew that last season – picking up lots of late points – but it’s really been highlighted this season. Nobody gave us a chance before the season started, but the team, management and the fans have all kept the faith and that’s really been key.
On the pitch, we started the season looking a bit out of our depth. It took a few games to find our feet, but we’ve really settled as a Premier League side now. That’s meant that a few players who are Championship standard players, like Joe Ralls and Lee Peltier, have started to find their game. Across the squad, each player has been superb and played above and beyond what we expected. Sol Bamba is the epitome of that and the spirit we have at the club.
One of the biggest worries for Everton fans right now is our inability to defend set pieces. What players should we be worried about when Cardiff win a free kick or corner?
If you’d asked me this five games ago, I’d have said not much! Set-pieces were our biggest strength last year, but for the first half of this season, we were poor at set-pieces both defensively and offensively. In the last five games, we’ve shown our strengths at set-pieces. We’ve got a lot of players that are good in the air, even with captain Sean Morrison missing through injury.
Callum Paterson, who won 14 aerial battles in our last game against Southampton, the same as Saints’ entire first eleven, and Sol Bamba. We’re particularly good at winning the first ball and heading it across goal, with a second player bundling it in at the far post. Bamba’s goals against Southampton and Chelsea are perfect examples of this.
Your front line is now being led by Everton loanee Oumar Niasse what have you made of the Senegalese striker since he joined?
I’ve been really impressed, as have most of the Cardiff fan base, I think. My initial impression is that Niasse isn’t going to score many goals, but he’s completely changed the way that we play, and we needed that. For the first time this season, we’ve got a striker that will stretch the play and make runs in behind. We sit deep, meaning that teams tend to be camped on their half-way line. That leaves lots of space to pump the ball in behind for Niasse to chase.
The Emiliano Sala incident shook football but with Cardiff right at the centre of it how has it affected morale there?
It’s definitely ignited the fans and players to rally around in his memory. We’ve played three matches since the tragedy; beating Bournemouth and Southampton and giving a brilliant performance against Arsenal. It’s been horrific since Sala’s plane went missing, and he and the pilot David Ibbotson have constantly been in the thoughts of everything at Cardiff City Football Club. I think that Neil Warnock, Ken Choo (CEO) and Mehmet Dalman (Chairman) have been superb and have done the club proud in the way that they have dealt with this terrible situation.
Which Everton player do you think will pose the biggest threat to Cardiff?
I don’t think he’s the biggest threat, but Gylfi Sigurdsson will probably score being an ex-Jack! I think Richarlison is probably Everton’s biggest threat to Cardiff – our defence don’t handle pace particularly well.
Which Cardiff player do you think will pose the biggest threat to Everton?
Probably Callum Paterson. He’s an absolute force in the air and is a massive pain in the a*** for an opposition defender. He’s moved to the right-wing since Niasse joined, so Warnock could really target Lucas Digne with the high-ball. With Niasse missing, though, the Scotsman may move inside, but I’d imagine he’ll stay out wide and Kenneth Zohore, who scored his first Premier League goal against Saints, will come in.
Final Score?
It’s at the Cardiff City Stadium, under the lights, and I think it’ll be a fantastic atmosphere. Cardiff away is a tough game and Everton are on a bad run of form heading into the weekend’s games. It could go either way really, but I’m backing Cardiff for a 2-1 win.
