Roker Report Score Predictions: Cardiff vs SAFC (2024)

‘The Champion’ Martin Wanless predicts...

Score prediction: Cardiff City 1 Sunderland 1

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Dennis Cirkin

The opening games of a season can be a bit cagey, and Cardiff under manager Erol Bulut will be looking to kick on from what was an OK season last year, although they only finished one point ahead of us.

From our perspective, it’ll be good to see Régis Le Bris’ tactical vision in action, although I think it’ll be a couple of months before we really see it. And of course, we’re still without a proper striker, so there’s only so much we can realistically expect.

Until that’s resolved, I think goals will be in somewhat short supply, but I fancy Dennis Cirkin - who’s got form for scoring at Cardiff - to get a goal in a tight 1-1.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Malc Dugdale predicts...

Score prediction: Cardiff City 0 Sunderland 0

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: N/A

Although Sunderland and Cardiff have scored a few goals in pre-season, I think this game will be one where the teams won’t want to lose and may be quite hesitant about going for the win, so will likely cancel each other out.

We’re still without any new striking options, and will probably be happy with a point away from home while we settle in to the Le Bris approach. If we do better and get a win, I’ll take that, and we may well do so given the high press approach it seems the new coach is promoting.

Our defence has looked shaky in some of our friendly games (albeit at times with huge changes from an expected first pick), so Le Bris will want our starting back line in the league to show that isn't an ongoing concern.

Cardiff have two Championship home games on the trot before they play Burnley away, so they’ll want to build steadily and do well before playing the ex-Premier league Clarets.

We played Cardiff at home early last season and lost 0-1 (a game I attended live and left very disappointed with), but we won 2-0 in the return leg in March, so a draw is a shout for me, and it wont be a bad point at all if we bring it back.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Jack Howe-Gingell predicts...

Score prediction: Cardiff City 1 Sunderland 2

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Jack Clarke

After the disappointment of last season, we’re back again with renewed optimism. It’s the hope I can’t stand.

After a relatively positive pre-season, if that sort of thing actually matters, we’re finally returning to competitive action in what’ll be a tough trip to Cardiff.

I’m hoping the lows of last season, coupled with a new head coach who wants to impress with his own style, will galvanise the players and get us back to what we were doing in the first half of last season.

The striker debate still looms, but we have to give it our all with what we have and we know we have dangerous players who can influence a game.

However, Cardiff have brought in some experienced lads who could prove to be astute signings in Calum Chambers, Anwar El-Ghazi and Chris Willock. They are your classic side full of Championship-level players and we’ll need to be at our best to beat them.

I’ll be in attendance for my first away game in ten years so hopefully I’ll bring us some good luck. Last time I went to Cardiff, we won 0-1 in the rain under Roy Keane.

I’ll take that now (though maybe not the rain).

Photo by Martin Swinney/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Will Jones predicts...

Score prediction: Cardiff City 1 Sunderland 2

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Dan Neil

A long journey to start the season is never easy, but one that we can really show what we’re made of.

Régis Le Bris has shown that he wants to change it up and to implement a new ‘Sunderland’ style of play, and hopefully this includes a striker one day.

We’ll be missing Pierre Ekwah, Dan Ballard and Ian Poveda for the opener, meaning it’ll be a chance for Alan Browne to show his new faithful what he’s all about.

Cardiff were very hit and miss last season, but have added a few players with decent pedigree, so they may be more stable, but I have a feeling that with our squad staying more or less as it is, and a season without high turnover, it’ll pay dividends in the long term and should allow us to hit the ground running come 12:30.

I think we take three points home and really give the fans something to go home smiling about.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Matty Foster predicts...

Score prediction: Cardiff City 0 Sunderland 1

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Jack Clarke

A fresh season, a new gaffer, new beautiful kits, and hopefully a rejuvenated Sunderland.

I have a renewed optimism for this coming year, despite last season’s shortcomings, and I think if we keep hold of our key players and add a recognised goalscorer, we’ll be cooking on gas.

Our opponents have recruited well and will be wanting to make a good start to the season, and my initial thoughts are that it’ll be a pretty cagey affair with few goals.

So, to start as I hopefully mean to go on, I’m going to back the Lads for a win!

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Bomber Davies predicts...

Score prediction: Cardiff City 1 Sunderland 2

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Patrick Roberts

And we’re off again! That one weekend of the season where everyone is equal, and for fans, anything is possible.

Cardiff have had a pretty good pre-season, having beaten Hamburg and drawn with Hertha Berlin in the past two weeks, whilst for the Lads, defeat at Bradford has been sandwiched between two very good results against Nottingham Forest and Marseille.

We looked ready and eager against the Ligue 1 team, although the same striking spectres of last season still seem to haunt the squad going into the new campaign. We still have a few weeks to sort that, but it’ll come too soon for our trip to Wales.

I feel we’ll be up for it, and the travelling support in their lovely new shirts will be in full voice.

I saw a glimpse of the ‘old’ Patrick Roberts against Marseille, so I’m backing him to have a great game in a hard fought, but well-deserved 2-1 victory.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Gary Winter predicts...

Score prediction: Cardiff City 1 Sunderland 1

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Jobe Bellingham

A tricky-looking fixture to start, but we have two wins and two clean sheets to show for our last two outings at the Cardiff City Stadium, so there’s plenty of reason for optimism.

I’m looking forward to an early glimpse and some initial signs of what Régis Le Bris is trying to implement, but I sense this could be a safer version of things to come, given what the team has been through this year.

It’s an important first game for the team under a new head coach, where some positive performances and results will be much needed to gradually erase the gloom of 2024 to date. Injecting some energy and instilling confidence is a must if we’re to have a positive start to the campaign.

Cardiff leaked a lot of goals last season but without signing the striker we’ve all been hankering for, the concern is we may not have the cutting edge required to put this game away.

There haven’t been any draws between us two in recent years but that’s what I’m predicting here, in a cagey opener.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Brett Lyons-Davis predicts...

Score prediction: Cardiff City 1 Sunderland 1

Sunderland’s first goalscorer: Jack Clarke

Having pretty much wished away the last four months of the previous campaign, we start the 2024/2025 season with a mystery foreign head coach, as well as a very sexy home and away kit.

We’re like kids on Christmas Eve, waiting to see what the next ten months are going to bring, although unfortunately we’re still minus a striker.

With Cardiff finishing a few places above us last season, I don’t think there’ll be a lot in it, and I can see any early season optimism disappearing in true Sunderland fashion if Cardiff score first early on.

However, I predict this will be followed by the first Le Bris masterclass, which sees us pushing on and eventually getting a late point, through who else but Jack Clarke.

So, we end the first game 1-1, with comments varying from ‘Oh well, at least we didn’t start with a defeat and it’s a point on the board’ to ‘Speakman, buy a striker/KLD’s got no money’.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Previous predictions - Final standings 2023/2024

With a miserable 2-0 loss at the end of last season at home to Sheffield Wednesday, the only point won by any of the lads for that very dead rubber was a single one by Martin, who called a 2-1 loss.

The rest of the predictions for Sheffield Wednesday at home last May were as follows:

Thanks to that single point and many skilfully predicted others before it, our Aussie ex-pat confirmed his Roker Report Predictions crown for the 2023/2024 season, quite comfortably in the end.

The final table as of May 2024 was as follows:

Here we are already a full three months later, and the first game of the season is upon us. Where did the summer go?

We have a new gaffer, a smattering of new signings and encouraging contract extensions, and we’ve had a solid pre season under Monsieur Le Bris’ guidance.

In the Predictions team we welcome a couple of new signings in Brett and Gary. Hopefully they’ll predict a lot of wins and will be bang on with those calls when we need them.

We’ve scored some decent pre-season goals (we scored in every tie including against Forest and Marseille, which is not to be ignored). We’re on the brink of a new era under the Frenchman and we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic, at least for now.

Fingers crossed for a cracker of a season, in order to make the final third of 2023/2024 a thing of the past.

How the points are awarded

Just a quick reminder of how we allocate points to our match-by-match predictions:

• Correct score = Three points
• Correct outcome (but not correct score) = One point
• Correct first Sunderland goalscorer = One point (no goal scorer is a valid call)
• Possible deductions for being lazy and not submitting on time = Two point deduction