Cardiff preview with Dominic Booth, Wales Online

Saturday represents the first time we've played Cardiff City since the 2013/14 season so for our 'Preview from the Press Box' we turned to Dominic Booth, who knows the Bluebirds inside-out in his role as sports writer for Wales Online.

Cardiff’s form so far

Dominic: "Their performances have deserved more, but Cardiff have just two points from seven Premier League outings - a cocktail which both frustrates and gives hope to the Bluebirds' supporters, not to mention the manager Neil Warnock. Their best performances have come at home, against Arsenal and Burnley, but defensive errors meant Cardiff conspired to lose both games by a single goal. It's been more bleak on the road, but Cardiff should have capitalised at 10-man Huddersfield, while they had a tough time of it at Chelsea and Bournemouth. There are flickers, but not enough points on the board as things stand."

This game

Dominic: "Whether it will be a 'park the bus' job from Warnock is doubtful in my opinion as the Cardiff boss has looked to attack when he can against the top six sides this season. Remember Cardiff actually went ahead at Stamford Bridge through a set-piece goal - and dead ball situations will be key for the Bluebirds. Naturally Spurs will enjoy the lion's share of possession but the visitors will hope to retain some potency on the counter-attack and catch Mauricio Pochettino's side by surprise. Their toughest task will of course be to keep Harry Kane quiet while nullifying Tottenham's various other forward threats."

Cardiff’s key man

Dominic: "Josh Murphy has been the brightest spark for Cardiff going forward this season. He has the pace to trouble any defence and will be feeling more confident after scoring his first Premier League goal against Burnley last week, a lovely clinical finish from 12 yards or so. He's comfortable on either right foot or left and will hope to exploit any space in behind Tottenham's full-backs, given the chance. Cardiff's challenge will be getting Murphy into the game."

Key area

Dominic: "As mentioned, Cardiff's set-pieces could be key with Sean Morrison's long throw-ins - which gained a lot of media traction this week because of the amount of time they took during the Burnley game - a big weapon for Warnock's men. If Spurs can defend from set-pieces at Wembley, they will surely dominate open play and carve out enough chances for Kane and company to win the game."

Prediction

Dominic: "Cardiff fans have to be optimistic in these tough times, but away at Spurs seems like too tough an assignment at this stage in the Bluebirds' top flight development. Pochettino's boys should cruise home, though I'm backing Cardiff to get on the scoresheet. 3-1 for me."