Swansea City v Cardiff City - Rivals

As far as English league derby rivalries go, this has to be one of the most intense, but there's an added edge to this fixture.

The two Welsh clubs aren't just going head-to-head for local bragging rights, but are both vying to beat the other to one of the two automatic promotion places on offer in the Championship.

By all accounts (outside of Cardiff) Swansea have been playing the more attractive football this season so far, but their neighbours have a certain resilience that develops within a squad after getting close to the promised land of the Premier League, but stumbling when it matters.

At this point I'll have to admit it is the first time I will have seen Cardiff live this season and so most of my observations are based purely on stats and what I've heard.

And (as regular readers will know) the only time I've watched Swansea perform - or no perform as the case may be - was in the Cup defeat to Orient last weekend. This was a result they were smarting over immediately after the game and I'm sure that a derby win - following the 2-0 win at Bristol City on Tuesday - will go a long way to helping the fans forgive them.

To be fair to the Swans they had much of the game against Orient who won 2-1 despite only having one real shot on target! Alan Tate's own goal was a bit of a freak and not one that a player of his experience will repeat any time soon.

And Tate has already moved on. The skipper is only concentrating on Sunday's game and said:

"I think I came back strongly at Bristol City, so it's not an issue.

This is the game we look forward to most anyway. It just so happens that it's also a big one in terms of where both teams are in the league and what we are trying to achieve. It is just three points, but it's not just another game. It's more than that.



When you look at the wage bills and how much money they pay for players, it's ridiculous that we even compete with them. They should be beating us comfortably when you look at it like that, but then that's what we do — compete with teams who are spending a lot more money than we do."

And it sounds as if Cardiff boss David Jones agrees with Tate about the importance of the game at least. He told the club's website:

"There are a lot of things that have been written about what I`m supposed to have said in the past about derby games. I`ve never played this fixture down - it`s how people interpret the things I say.


Everybody at this football club knows how important derby games are, including me. Why? Because I`ve played in them myself. This game with Swansea is very important to us - there are three points on offer and we want them.

No doubt about it though, it`s going to be a tough game. Our next game happens to be against our local rivals, but sometimes you do have to put things into perspective a little bit so as not to fall into the trap of playing the occasion.

So yes, it`s about getting three points against another Championship opponent, but we know derby games do have a different feel."

Swansea are two points and two places ahead of Cardiff in the table, but have played a game more and so could do with a five point cushion while also trying to reel leaders QPR in a little.

Their league form has been impressive and they have now lost only one of their last six games and lost only one. They'll also be trying to do the double after winning the reverse fixture 1-0 back in November.

Cardiff of course will be looking to even things up and leapfrogging Swansea in the table will go a long way to helping their fans to get over that result.

The Bluebirds have only lost one of their last six games as well, but have drawn three of them and so as the campaign starts hotting up - they need to start turning those draws into wins if they are going to avoid the lottery of the play-offs. Memories of last May's 3-2 Final defeat to Blackpool will motivate them if nothing else does.

My prediction - a feisty 2-2 draw.