Cardiff City say goodbye to January where the Emilano Sala tragedy cast a sad shadow over the football club and left the world shocked at the loss of a young footballer. The club will pay it's respects at CCS on Saturday,
On the pitch City picked up one point from 12 and now find themselves at risk of being cut off in the bottom three. Other sides like Newcastle (6 pts), Palace (4 pts), Burnley (8pts) and Southampton (8 pts) had much more productive months. Fulham picked up a win after three defeats.
The worse teams in January - formwise - were Huddersfield & Cardiff whose only points came from a drab 0 - 0 draw with each other. One other side, Brighton, also only picked up a single point but still have a seven point cushion over the bottom three.
February also has four Premier League games for Cardiff and three of them are at home. Starting with Bournmouth on Saturday City then face Southampton away next week before a home double header with Watford and Everon in the space of 5 days.
February will be a pivotal month in the hope of Premier League survival.
Early team news:
Cardiff's Deadline Day signing Leandro Bacuna is expected to make his home debut.
Bacuna is set to replace Harry Arter with the Republic of Ireland midfielder unable to play against his parent club.
Victor Camarasa and Josh Murphy, who both missed the 2-1 defeat to Arsenal on Tuesday, will be assessed.
Bournemouth must cope without top goalscorer Callum Wilson again because of a knee problem.
Midfielder Jefferson Lerma (ankle) faces a late fitness test, while January signing Dominic Solanke, who was on the bench for the midweek 4-0 win against Chelsea, could be given a debut after overcoming a hamstring problem.
Cherries captain Simon Francis and midfielder Lewis Cook (both knee) remain long-term absentees.
Opta stats
- Cardiff are winless in five home matches against Bournemouth in all competitions (D3 L2) since a 2-1 win in a third tier match in April 1994.
- Bournemouth have only won two of their 16 away league matches against Cardiff (D6 L8), with Eddie Howe featuring for the Cherries the last time they did so in March 2000.
- Cardiff have failed to score in their last two Premier League home games, attempting just eight shots and three shots on target (W0 D1 L1).
- No side have drawn more Premier League games 0-0 than Cardiff this season (4). Indeed their four goalless draws this season is more than Bournemouth have had in their last two campaigns combined in the competition (3).
- Bournemouth have lost their last six away Premier League games, conceding at least twice each time. They've not lost seven in a row on the road in league football since October 1994.
- Only Fulham (30) have conceded more away Premier League goals this season than Bournemouth (25).
- In 2019, only Accrington Stanley (0) have scored fewer goals in the top four tiers of English league football than Cardiff City (1).
- Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson has scored seven goals in his last six Premier League starts against newly promoted teams, netting one against Cardiff earlier this season.
- On the day of this match, it will be 19 years and 102 days since Cardiff manager Neil Warnock hosted Bournemouth in a league match - a 2-2 draw as Bury manager at Gigg Lane in October 1999.
- Cardiff winger Nathaniel Mendez-Laing scored his first Premier League goal in their 1-2 defeat to Arsenal, meaning he has scored in all four English league divisions since the 2014-15 season, one of only two players to achieve this feat in that time along with Alfie Mawson.
Match officials:
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Assistants: Marc Perry, Andy Halliday
Fourth official: Graham Scott