Head coach Danny Wilson has made seven changes to the side that faced Pau last week, with Josh Turnbull named captain for the clash against his former side.
Turnbull switches from number eight to openside flanker, in the absence of Sam Warburton and Ellis Jenkins, who has been training with Wales, with Cam Dolan coming into last week’s back-row.
They have however been boosted by the release of Rhys Gill and Lloyd Williams from Wales duty.
Elsewhere Matthew Morgan, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James and Tomos Williams all return to the starting line-up while George Earle makes a well-timed comeback from injury.
The clash also sees fly-half Steven Shingler retain the Number 10 jersey, and will face his brother, Aaron, who starts in the back-row for the opposition.
Former Cardiff Blues player Rhys Patchell will return to BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park, after he was named in the fly-half spot for the visitors, while flanker James Davies is recalled to the bench following a recent injury.
Did you know?
- Cardiff Blues made a great start to their European Challenge Cup campaign beating Bristol and Pau to head the pool four table after two rounds.
- Blues have lost their last two Guinness PRO12 encounters but have not lost three in a row in the Championship since November 2015.
- The Capital side’s only defeat to a fellow Welsh region at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park since December 2013 was to Newport Gwent Dragons in the PRO12 on Boxing Day 2014.
- Scarlets have won their last three matches in the Guinness PRO12 but have not won four in a row in the competition since this time last year.
- Scarlets only victory in their last five away games in all tournaments was 22-6 in Treviso in the PRO12 round 5.
- The west Walians have won three of their last four fixtures against fellow Welsh regions.
- The Blues achieved the season’s double over Scarlets last year for the first time since season 2009/10.
- Scarlets have not been successful on Cardiff soil since a 9-6 victory at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park in December 2012.
What They Said
Head coach Danny Wilson said: “The derbies are our biggest games, they are where we get our biggest crowds and hopefully that will still be the case without some of the internationals.
“It’s a challenge we are ready to meet and we certainly have a squad of players who are hungry and excited to play in that derby and hopefully they will put a performance in to get another home win.
“The Scarlets are always are a very tough fixture, they are playing with a shape that gives them a lot of width at the moment and are playing a high-temp wide game which we will have to deal with.
“We have to make sure our defensive display is as good as it has been at times this season and that we can test them with our attacking game.
“It is still a derby, it will still have that edge and it’s a home game against the Scarlets.
“It’s a big game for both teams, the next few games are in this period. We then go into Treviso away when they will probably have their internationals and we won’t have ours and then Connacht in the league after an Anglo-Welsh period.”
Referee: Lloyd Linton (SRU)
Assistant Referees: Cammy Rudkin (SRU), Dai Cambourne (WRU)
Citing Commissioner: John Charles (WRU)
TMO: Neil Paterson (IRFU)
Cardiff Blues: Matthew Morgan; Blaine Scully, Cory Allen, Rey Lee-Lo, Tom James; Steven Shingler, Tomos Williams; Rhys Gill, Kirby Myhill, Taufa’ao Filise, George Earle, James Down, Macauley Cook, Josh Turnbull (C), Cam Dolan
Replacements: Matthew Rees, Brad Thyer, Dillon Lewis, Seb Davies, Shane Lewis-Hughes, Lloyd Williams, Jarrod Evans, Dan Fish
Scarlets: Aled Thomas; DTV van der Merwe, Steffan Hughes, Hadleigh Parkes, Steffan Evans; Rhys Patchell, Jonathan Evans; Wyn Jones, Ryan Elias, Werner Kruger, Tom Price, David Bulbring, Aaron Shingler, Will Boyde, John Barclay
Replacements: Emyr Phillips, Dylan Evans, Peter Edwards, Lewis Rawlins, James Davies, Aled Davies, Dan Jones, Ioan Nicholas
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