Introduction
When you are on a bad run and without a home win since August the last team you want to see arrive at the Valley are the league leaders. With the feel good factor from last season long gone the players and manager have something to prove, to themselves if no one else. We are not relegated as there is a long way to go yet but we are in a relegation battle. How the players and management react to that fact and the defeat v Middlesboro' will be key
The Opposition
Cardiff will be wearing their away colours of blue shirts and white shorts which will please traditionalists at least. Still top despite losing away at Bolton on Saturday the Bluebirds Red Dragons sit top with 28 points. One straw for Charlton to cling to is that 21 of those points have come from the Welsh side's seven home games. On the road they have fared less well with "only" 2 wins and 1 draw from seven games. Even our away form is better!
Goals have not been a problem for City with Helguson and Whittingham both on form. As seems obligatory there is an former Addick playing for the opposition, in this case AFKA Bartram's hero Mark Hudson.
The Line Up
Who knows? Powell certainly surprised most of us v Boro by playing Kerker at the LB. The young French-Algerian certainly didn't embarrass himself considering it appears to have been his first game in such a position.
Not that it lasted too long. At 1 - 2 CP switched to 3 - 5 - 2 which saw Kerker and Solly getting forward to some affect but another defensive error made it 1 - 3 and the Addicks switched again to 4 - 3 - 3. Great tactical fluency and good to see a plan B and C when it works or pointless tinkering when it doesn't. Either way you can play any formation you like but if your normally reliable defenders gift goals then you are going to lose.
The only formation we didn't see was one that has worked well away from home ie the 4-1-4-1. Some will complain that we have to be more adventurous in SE7 but we know what Curbs would have done. Shut up shop and stopped the slide. And CP is "Son of Curbs".
Whichever formation Powell wants to play will be limited by who he has available. Wilson walked off at half time and Cort seemed heavy legged 2nd half. The big centre half was subbed off but was it tactics or injury? Wiggins, Fuller and Kermo are still out and Wagstaff is out on loan, for now at least.
At Preview Towers we expect to see BWP miss out to allow Charlton to pack the midfield. Dervitte will continue in the middle if Cort is fit otherwise Hollands may return.
Hamer
Solly Morrison Dervite/Cort Kerker
Hollands/Dervite
Haynes Pritchard Stephens Jackson
Hulse
The Prediction
2 - 2
0
Comments
let's go crazy 2-1 to us
1-3.
1-0 og by that useless idiot Hudson.
Fuller, Helugson, Hudson
Be happy to see us draw this one, especially after Saturday, so 2-2.
Cardiff 5-0 175/1
Either of those tbh
Maybe it is time for Cousins to get his chance on the left and leave Solly on the right.
1-1
Cort, Wilson, Dervite, BWP out
1-1 draw, BWP to come off the bench and score the equaliser
And now I've said that, I predict he'll score the winner. 1-0 Charlton
As at Wolves in the second half, we will need to attack along the flanks to create chances, with both full backs getting in behind.
It worked at Molyneux, so why not at home against the league leaders?
The manager has a huge decision to make. Do we play 4-4-2 and go for the three points, risking another home defeat, or do we play a defensive formation, make ourselves difficult to beat and try to nick a result?