This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
Sheffield Wednesday midfielder Massimo Luongo has fired a warning to his teammates ahead of their game against Cardiff City on Friday evening.
What’s he said?
As the international break comes to an end, the Championship is back in action, and the Owls have been handed the first game back in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
They head to the Welsh capital to face a side that sits just three points behind them in 11th, so an evenly-matched encounter could well be on our hands.
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Luongo made his first start of the season last time out after joining the club in the summer from Queens Park Rangers.
He replaced the suspended Sam Hutchinson in midfield, and his performance would have given Monk a healthy selection headache ahead of this tie.
The 27-year-old has since given his side a rallying call as he knows the sort of test they’ll be coming up against later this week, he said:
“It will be a tough test. You always know what Neil Warnock teams are about.
“They will be big, physical and I think we are probably suited to that a little bit. I think in our teams everybody does their job and does it well.”You definitely have to roll your sleeves up when you play them. It is never going to be an easy fight.
“It is Friday night on TV so it is a great game to be involved in.”
Physical battle
Luongo isn’t wrong as the Bluebirds rank as one of the most physical sides in the division.
For aerial duels won per game, Cardiff are third in the league, averaging 30.5 while for fouls they are inside the top-five at an average of 13.5 per match, via WhoScored.
The Australia international also believes Wednesday are well equipped to deal with it, and further figures would certainly back that up as the Owls are fifth in the league for aerial duels won, averaging 24 per game – five-goal striker Steven Fletcher accounts for 6.5 of those himself.
While the 6 foot 6 presence of Atdhe Nuhiu probably gives them something that no other team has in terms of sheer height alone.
However, Garry Monk will need to ensure his side are careful as they go into the game with the third-worst discipline record in the league, per Transfermarkt, so they can’t afford to get frustrated by the number of fouls Cardiff will concede.