- 1 Cardiff City vs Norwich City: an unbeaten side against a team that has just shipped five goals in two games
- 2 Cardiff City: a successful return and already a goal in the 98th minute
- 3 Norwich City: two straight setbacks and a dressing room under pressure
- 4 Football Prediction Cardiff City vs Norwich City
- 5 Before anything else, a word on our free predictions
- 6 No commitment from us
- 7 Information that changes
- 8 Your role
- 9 Responsible gambling first
- 10 Legal age
- 11 About the images…
Cardiff City vs Norwich City: an unbeaten side against a team that has just shipped five goals in two games 
Cardiff have not lost yet this season. Norwich are on the back of two straight defeats and five goals conceded in league action.
The two Championship clubs meet at Cardiff City Stadium on Tuesday 25 August, kick-off at 19:00 English time, in the second round of the EFL Cup.
The Bluebirds came back up from League One this summer and got past Swindon Town 3-2 in the last round. The Canaries, meanwhile, brushed aside MK Dons 4-1 with a three-goal first half.
Brian Barry-Murphy has started his league campaign with two draws, a 1-1 against Wrexham and a 2-2 at Derby County on Saturday. Two leads thrown away in the latter, which is already starting to grate on the Welsh side.
Philippe Clement is going through a much rougher patch: a 2-1 opening-day defeat to West Bromwich Albion, then a 3-0 beating at Millwall on Saturday, with Jose Cordoba sent off for good measure.
Recent history still leans Norwich’s way, though, with the Canaries winning four of the last five official meetings between the sides, including three in which they scored at least three goals. Cardiff’s two wins in the last six clashes were both at home.
The 19:00 kick-off makes this one one of the first games on Tuesday’s card. The two clubs will meet again in the Championship this season anyway.
The knockout format worked for Cardiff last year, when they reached the quarter-finals despite still being in League One at the time.
Cardiff City: a successful return and already a goal in the 98th minute 
Three competitive games, zero defeats. Cardiff’s return to the Championship is going fine, even if the league points tally is still stuck at two.
Rubin Colwill snatched a 1-1 draw against Wrexham in the 98th minute in the club’s first game back in the second tier. A point rescued that felt a lot like a win given how it played out.
The trip to Derby left a more bitter taste: the Bluebirds led twice before conceding a 2-2 draw. Throwing away two leads in one match is the real warning sign.
The cup has been kinder, with a quarter-final run last season and a 3-2 win over Swindon Town in round one, where Jack Moylan and Yousef Salech caught the eye.
The treatment room is busy: Will Fish is out until November with a hernia, while Calum Chambers, Dylan Lawlor and Gabriel Osho are also expected to miss out.
Barry-Murphy will have to dip into his bench, with Harry Tyrer, David Turnbull, Joel Colwill and Callum Robinson all in line for starts. Getting a shaky opponent at home is the right time to make changes.
Rubin Colwill has been Cardiff’s standout man since the restart, thanks to his 98th-minute equaliser against Wrexham.
The real problem is elsewhere: two leads thrown away at Derby in the same match. Managing the closing stages is Barry-Murphy’s weak spot.
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Norwich City: two straight setbacks and a dressing room under pressure 
The 4-1 win over MK Dons had given a false sense of comfort, with three goals before half-time. Since then, Norwich have lost their first two Championship matches.
The opening-day defeat to West Bromwich Albion, 2-1, sparked debate over Aune Heggebo’s handball goal. The result, though, still stood.
At Millwall on Saturday, it was much worse: 3-0, with the game effectively done after Jose Cordoba’s red card when the Canaries were already two down.
Cordoba will now serve a one-match ban and misses the trip to Wales, stripping Clement of another option in the centre.
The absentee list keeps growing too, with Ali Ahmed sidelined after an anterior cruciate ligament rupture in training and likely out for the season, along with Lucien Mahovo, Liam Gibbs, Jovon Makama and Ante Crnac.
Norwich have not reached the third round of this competition since 2023-24 and will have to do it with a weakened squad, with Millwall behind them and Burnley up next at the weekend.
Philippe Clement has made it clear he will not rush any injured players back. With Millwall behind and Burnley ahead, rotation picks itself.
The 4-1 against MK Dons still shows what this side can do when it starts fast. Three first-half goals settled it that night.
Probable Cardiff City XI: Tyrer ; Kpakio, Ng, Bagan, Scanlon ; Robertson, Turnbull ; Willock, J. Colwill, Davies ; Robinson
Probable Norwich City XI: Grimshaw ; Stacey, Darling, McConville, Chrisene ; Mattsson, McLean ; Musaba, Ben Slimane, Diallo ; Touré
Football Prediction Cardiff City vs Norwich City
Our prediction: Cardiff City to win
Cardiff are unbeaten in their first three games and have scored in every one of them, including deep into stoppage time against Wrexham. Norwich come in with two defeats and five goals conceded in 180 minutes of league football.
The only two Welsh wins in the last six meetings between these clubs both came at Cardiff City Stadium, including a 2-1 victory in November 2024. Add in Cordoba’s suspension and Ali Ahmed’s long-term injury absence.
The Bluebirds should get through this one at home. The call is a Cardiff City win in normal time.
Barry-Murphy can also lean on an unbeaten group, while Clement is dealing with a bad run and a reshuffled centre-back pairing.
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