Cardiff City vs Plymouth Argyle Prediction: Bluebirds can break into playoff spots

Cardiff City will welcome Plymouth Argyle at Cardiff City Stadium in Game Week 24 of the English Championship. Bluebirds can break into playoff spots with a win. Who will come out on top after 90 minutes?

Cardiff's recent drop in form threatens to undermine the progress they've made under Erol Bulut this season. Prior to their match against Sheffield Wednesday, Cardiff had suffered five defeats in their previous seven games. However, they managed to turn things around and secure a 2-1 victory at Hillsborough, pushing them up to 10th place in the table. Bulut understands that their inconsistent performances need to improve in order to mount a promotion challenge. Nevertheless, sitting just three points behind sixth place at this stage of the campaign is a position that Cardiff would have accepted before the season started. 

Although Cardiff have a decent home record this season with six wins from 11 games, they have recently experienced three defeats in their last four matches at their home ground. Bulut is expected to make changes to the Cardiff lineup following their comeback win against Sheffield Wednesday. Ryan Wintle, Ollie Tanner, and Kion Etete are all vying for starting positions after making an impact as substitutes in the previous match. Cardiff will continue to be without Callum O'Dowda, Joe Ralls, and Aaron Ramsey due to injury. 

Alnwick; Ng, Goutas, McGuinness, Collins; Ralls, Wintle; Bowler, Robinson, Grant; Etete

Plymouth find themselves in a unique situation. Despite enjoying a successful season and having a good run of form, they are currently without a permanent manager. Steven Schumacher left the club to further his career at Stoke City, but Plymouth, the reigning League One champions, have accumulated 27 points from 23 games, which is more than their former manager's new team. In the interim, caretaker boss Neil Dewsnip has the task of maintaining Plymouth's momentum until a permanent replacement is secured. Plymouth showed resilience in their most recent game, coming back from 3-1 down to earn a valuable 3-3 draw against Birmingham City.

Dewsnip may make a couple of alterations to the starting lineup, potentially reintroducing Kaine Kesler-Hayden in one of the full-back positions and recalling Adam Randell in central midfield. However, Ben Waine is likely to retain his place in attack despite recent injury concerns for Ryan Hardie and Mustapha Bunda. 

While Dewsnip's future at Plymouth is uncertain, his priority is to keep the team performing well until a suitable replacement is found. A four-game unbeaten run on Boxing Day would make the job even more appealing. 

Hazard; Edwards, Pleguezuelo, Gibson, Kesler-Hayden; Randell, Houghton, Azaz; Whittaker, Waine, Mumba

The match between Cardiff and Plymouth promises to be an intriguing encounter. Plymouth's impressive unbeaten run gives them confidence in causing an upset at the Cardiff City Stadium. However, the Welsh club possesses enough quality to stay in the playoff race, and a late goal could ultimately determine the outcome.