Cardiff City's preparations for the 2024-25 campaign will continue on Saturday afternoon when they take on Belgian First Division outfit Kortrijk on home soil.
The Welsh team were in action on Wednesday, suffering a 1-0 defeat to Kidderminster Harriers in their first friendly of the summer, while Kortrijk beat Lauwe 5-0 in a friendly at the end of June.
Match preview
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Cardiff finished 12th in the Championship last season, picking up 62 points from their 46 matches, which left them 11 points off the playoff positions.
The Bluebirds are therefore preparing for another campaign in the second tier of English football, and their 2024-25 challenge will begin on August 10 at home to Sunderland.
Cardiff opened their preparations for the new season with a 1-0 loss to Kidderminster on Wednesday, and they have another six friendlies to come after this one, tackling Penybont, Hamburger SV, Mamelodi Sundowns, Hertha Berlin, Reading and Bristol Rovers before the return of competitive action.
Erol Bulut's side are yet to make a first-team signing this summer, but Ollie Denham, Sheyi Ojo and Romaine Sawyers have all left the club since the end of last season.
Cardiff last competed in the Premier League in 2018-19, and they have finished fifth, eighth, 18th, 21st and 12th in their last five campaigns in England's second tier.
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Kortrijk, meanwhile, are also working towards the start of their new campaign, opening their Belgian First Division season against Gent on July 28.
De Kerels, who finished 14th in Belgium's top flight last season, started their preparations for the new campaign with a 5-0 success over Lauwe at the end of last month.
Freyr Alexandersson's side have two more friendlies in the diary after this one against Swift Hesperange and AZ before tackling Gent in their season opener at the end of the month.
Kortrijk have been busy this summer in terms of incomings; Nacho Ferri is among those to arrive, with the 19-year-old joining on loan from Eintracht Frankfurt.
There have also been three first-team exits, while a number of players have returned to their parent clubs following loan spells, so there will be a fresh look to their squad next season.
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Team News
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Cardiff head coach Bulut used different XIs for each half of the clash with Kidderminster last time out, and it is likely that will again be the case in this contest.
The majority of the players that started last time out could keep their spots, including brothers Joel Colwill and Rubin Colwill, while Isaak Davies could face the club that he represented on loan last term.
There is likely to be a change in the final third of the field for the first whistle, though, with the experienced Callum Robinson potentially being introduced.
As for Kortrijk, Japanese duo Haruya Fujii and Takuro Kaneko are in line to make their debuts for the visitors in this match, while Gilles Dewaele, Ferri and Nathan Huygevelde are also set to represent the club for the first time.
Head coach Alexandersson will want to have a good look at his squad ahead of the new season, so it is possible that two different XIs will take to the field for each half of action.
Among the starters could be Ryan Alebiosu, who came through the youth system at Arsenal before moving to the Belgian outfit in September 2023.
Cardiff City possible starting lineup:
Alnwick; J Colwill, Goutas, McGuinness, Bagan; Ralls, Turnbull, R Colwill, Meite; Robinson, I Davies
Kortrijk possible starting lineup:
Vandenberghe; Dewaele, Fujii, Alebiosu, Oprut; Kaneko, Sissako, Fossum, Kadri; Mbayo, Hakim
We say: Cardiff City 2-1 Kortrijk
It is always difficult to know exactly what to expect from fixtures at this stage of pre-season, especially as both managers will make sweeping changes throughout the match, but we do fancy Cardiff to emerge victorious at the end of the contest.
No Data Analysis info
Matt Law
