Omer Riza outlines ‘the target’ Cardiff City must achieve ahead of relegation scrap with Luton Town

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Cardiff City could boost their Championship survival hopes massively with a victory over Luton Town in midweek.

The Bluebirds have endured a difficult 2024/25 season so far and are looking to avoid relegation to League One for the first time since it was rebranded in the early 2000s.

Erol Bulut kicked off the season in the Cardiff City dugout but was relieved of his duties on September 22nd after his side picked up just one point from six Championship games and scored just one goal.

Omer Riza took charge on an interim basis before eventually signing a permanent contract until the end of the campaign on December 5th.

There’s been a slight improvement since Riza’s arrival in the dugout, but one win from five leaves them dangerously close to the relegation zone going into the midweek action.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
18	Oxford UnitedOxford United	36	9	12	15	37	53	-16	39
19	Hull CityHull City	36	9	10	17	36	45	-9	37
20	Stoke CityStoke City	36	8	12	16	36	50	-14	36
21	CardiffCardiff	36	8	12	16	39	59	-20	36
22	DerbyDerby	36	8	8	20	35	49	-14	32
23	LutonLuton	36	8	7	21	32	59	-27	31
24	PlymouthPlymouth	36	6	12	18	36	73	-37	30

• READ MORE: Neil Warnock once shared ‘best way’ to succeed at Cardiff City ahead of Premier League promotion, two players changed the club

Omer Riza sets Cardiff City points target ahead of Luton

Cardiff face fellow strugglers Luton Town in a Championship fixture on Tuesday evening.

Just five points currently separate the Welsh outfit and the Hatters, while 24th-place Plymouth Argyle are only six points away from Riza and co. currently.

As a result, with 10 games of the season left to play, it’s imperative that Cardiff make the most of their remaining ‘easy fixtures’, one of which comes on March 11th against a Luton side who have won just eight matches all season.

Speaking ahead of the game, though, as per BBC Sport, Riza admitted he is not interested in their upcoming opponent’s problems and instead chose to focus on Cardiff, setting them a target of reaching 50 points in the league this season.

He said: “It’s another must-win game. We are at home, our form hasn’t been too bad at home. They are in the position that they are in and we need to win.

“It’s a massive game, they’re in trouble, we’re in trouble and we need to get three points, there’s no other option. They’ve made a managerial change and have got their problems but I’m not too interested in Luton and the problems they’ve got. We’ve got to look at ourselves, we need to get our points and to do it ASAP.

“Fifty [points] is the target, we’ve just got to focus on trying to win games and pick up points.”

Winable games from remaining Cardiff City fixtures

With 10 games, including Luton, to go, Cardiff will need to notch another 14 points to reach the target set by their manager.

That likely means they will need to win four and draw two while only losing four more games this term.

On paper, that’s a big ask considering they secured victories in just eight of their first 36, but Cardiff do have a mixed run of fixtures to round off their season with plenty of points up for grabs.

Meetings with promotion chasers Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion, Norwich City, and Blackburn Rovers are likely to prove the toughest tests.

But Luton, Sheffield Wednesday, Queens Park Rangers, Preston North End, Stoke City, and Oxford United are all winnable matches.