Sky Sports pundit David Prutton has predicted that Aston Villa will fall to a second successive defeat when they entertain Cardiff City on Tuesday.
Steve Bruce’s side were well beaten at the weekend when they travelled to Carrow Road to face mid-table Norwich, who ran out 3-1 winners.
A stunning goal from Josh Murphy put Norwich ahead before Dennis Srbeny and James Maddison secured a win for the Canaries despite Jack Grealish giving the Villans hope at 2-1.
Second-placed Cardiff are also coming in off a loss, with Neil Warnock’s men falling 1-0 to league leaders Wolves after missing two injury time penalties.
In his predictions for Sky Sports, Prutton sees a 2-0 win for the Bluebirds, saying: “How much will the manner of Cardiff’s defeat at Wolves impact them going forward? Suddenly the gap between themselves and Fulham is just two points, and even though Neil Warnock’s side have a game in hand it would still be a huge blow to find themselves outside of the top two.
“Aston Villa would have hoped to be the side doing the chasing, but one win in five seems to have left them with too much to do. Victory is essential for them on Tuesday night but I think Cardiff will get back to winning ways here.”
OPINION
While Steve Bruce’s men still look nailed-on for a place in the Championship play-offs, their recent form will be a big disappointment for all involved at the club. Fulham’s relentless form at the moment has shown that automatic promotion still remained a real possibility for the chasing pack, but that prospect is now effectively over for Villa. The visit of Cardiff on Tuesday will be a big test, and one that Villa must pass in order to get momentum going again for the play-offs. The weekend’s performance against Norwich was not up to scratch, and fans need to see a response from their team.