Burnley vs Cardiff City Prediction: Burnley are promotional favourites

Burnley will be hosting Cardiff City at the Turf Moor in Game Week 2 of the English Championship. There is no doubting the fact that Burnley stands among the promotion favourites this season. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Scott Parker started life as Burnley's head coach in style on Monday night. The Clarets saw off fellow relegated team Luton with a convincing 4-1 win at Kenilworth Road, where the hosts seemed off their game.

Josh Brownhill took only six minutes to open his account, further strikes to Wilson Odobert, Dara O'Shea, and Vitinho rounding off an effortless rout for the Lancashire club into their Championship return.

Early in the second half, Burnley sent on a replacement in former Manchester United and Netherlands striker Wout Weghorst. Indeed, with his recent spells in the Bundesliga and the Premier League, Weghorst brings loads of experience into this side.

Lucas Pires, who was relegated from La Liga with Cadiz last term, signed for Burnley this summer to seek promotion. The Brazilian made an instant impression by delivering two wonderful assists on Monday night.

Surprisingly, Burnley's last home Championship game was against Cardiff City on May 8, 2023. Goals from Brownhill, Ashley Barnes and Scott Twine helped the Clarets record a 3-0 win over Sabri Lamouchi's relegation-threatened Bluebirds.

Burnley may field Trafford, Roberts, O'Shea, Esteve, Pires, Brownhill, Cullen, Vitinho, Odobert, Koleosho, and Foster in their lineup .

Cardiff will travel for the first time this season in the 2024-25 campaign after consecutive home matches in the Championship and EFL Cup. Their season has started mixed in terms of both performances and outcomes.

The Bluebirds were flat in their Championship opener against Sunderland at Cardiff City Stadium last Saturday. Goals from captain Luke O'Nien and highly-rated Jack Clarke earned the visitors all three points.

However, Cardiff showed much improvement on Tuesday night. A second-half double from academy graduate Rubin Colwill and centre-back Mark McGuinness was enough to get them past League One side Bristol Rovers in the EFL Cup and into the second round.

A batch of players made their first starts for Cardiff midweek, among them Hertha Berlin loanee Wilfried Kanga; the forward, who scored 12 goals in the Belgian Pro League last year, will look to help Erol Bulut's charges charge up towards that top-six finish.

Ahead of their EFL Cup second-round match against Premier League newcomers Southampton on August 27, Cardiff play successive Championship away games. They have back-to-back away trips this weekend to Turf Moor before the South Wales derby at Swansea City.

Cardiff City should field the following: Horvath; Ng, Chambers, Goutas; O'Dowda, Siopis, Ralls, Meite; Ramsey, Willock, Kanga

Tantor injuries have hit both teams hard as Burnley has lost Sander Berge, while Cardiff may lose David Turnbull. Aaron Ramsey is on course for a comeback for Burnley, but Cardiff's Callum Robinson and Anwar El Ghazi are not too far away in terms of injuries. With Burnley having an excellent record at home and Cardiff's inconsistent form, the former should win.