Wrexham | Two Welsh clubs face off in the EFL Cup

Wrexham v Cardiff City preview

A potentially fascinating encounter in the EFL Cup

Author | Steffan Ingram

Stadium | STōK Cae Ras

Wrexham v Birmingham City

Wrexham are bidding to reach the EFL Cup quarter finals for the first time since the 1977 to 78 campaign. The club, now competing in the Championship after three successive promotions under Phil Parkinson, began their run in the opening round and have already knocked out fellow second tier sides Hull City and Preston North End.

Cardiff City travel to North Wales with hopes of building on a strong response to their drop into League One. The Bluebirds, who last made the quarter finals in 2011 to 12 when they went on to finish runners-up to Liverpool, have quickly become promotion contenders under new manager Brian Barry-Murphy and aim to show their progress by upsetting their higher division hosts.

Cardiff City v Leyton Orient 

Last time out

Wrexham gained a hard-fought point against Middlesbrough, a side that is now one of the favourites to be promoted to the Premier League. Josh Windass gave Wrexham the lead, but a late equaliser meant they had to settle for the draw. Something most would have taken at the start of the day.

Cardiff  suffered a late defeat in League One against fellow promotion contenders Bolton Wanderers. A Amario Cozier-Duberry winner in the 94th minute meant they left Greater Manchester empty-handed.

Team news for both sides

For Wrexham, Phil Parkinson remains without Danny Ward, George Thomason, Andy Cannon and Jay Rodríguez for Wrexham, leaving former Arsenal prospect Arthur Okonkwo to keep his place in goal.

Cardiff manager Brian Barry-Murphy may again be missing left-back Joel Bagan after he picked up a knock at Bolton, meaning Ronan Kpakio or Calum Chambers are likely to step into the defence.

A closer look at this historic rivalry

A match between the two sides in 1993

Formed in 1864, Wrexham are the oldest club in Wales and rank as the third-oldest professional association football team anywhere in the world.

Cardiff City began life some 35 years later as Riverside AFC, before adopting their current name in 1908. They joined the Southern Football League two years after that and entered the English Football League in 1920.

Both clubs have a proud history in knockout competitions and share a distinguished record in the Welsh Cup. Wrexham have lifted the trophy 23 times, while Cardiff have triumphed on 22 occasions.

The sides have enjoyed famous FA Cup moments against Arsenal. Cardiff’s most iconic triumph came in 1927 when they became the first, and so far only, Welsh club to win the FA Cup, one of three final appearances in their history. Wrexham delivered one of the competition’s great upsets in 1992, knocking out the reigning First Division champions with a 2-1 victory in the third round.

Yet the Premier League is where the divide between the two clubs is most striking. Cardiff have twice reached the top flight, but for Wrexham’s Hollywood ownership duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, that remains an ambition still to be realised.