It is a brand new half-back pairing with Henry Pyrgos and Peter Horne both returning from Scotland duty.
Outside of them Alex Dunbar also returns for his club, partnering Sam Johnson in the midfield, while it is the same back three that started in Glasgow’s record victory over the Ospreys last Sunday.
Tongan international Siua Halanukonuka makes his first start having impressed off the bench in Swansea. He joins George Turner and Alex Allan in the front-row.
With Ryan Wilson only joining up with the squad midway through the week, Callum Gibbins will continue to captain the side, the Scotalnd international Number 8 the only other change to the pack.
On the bench Jamie Bhatti is involved after featuring in all three of Scotland's Autumn Internationals and Nikola Matawalu will look to bring his spark to the match on his return from Fiji duty.
Elsewhere, Stuart Hogg is undergoing further investigations to determine the length of his absence, following the hip injury sustained last week ahead of the Australia game.
Glasgow Warriors Head Coach Dave Rennie said: "Ryan (Wilson) can come back and just focus on his role. He'll captain the side from next week onwards but Cully (Callum Gibbins) has done a good job with the Scotland boys away and we want to keep driving the development of other leaders.
"Cardiff have got some real threats with ball in hand. They'll be prepared to play and we'll expect them coming up here to have a real positive mindset."
14 Lelia Masaga
13 Alex Dunbar
12 Sam Johnson
11 Leonardo Sarto
10 Peter Horne
9 Henry Pyrgos
1 Alex Allan
2 George Turner
3 Siua Halanukonuka
4 Kiran McDonald
5 Scott Cummings
6 Callum Gibbins (Captain)
7 Matt Smith
8 Ryan Wilson
Substitutes
16 James Malcolm
17 James Bhatti
18 D'arcy Rae
19 Brian Alainu'uese
20 Samuela Vunisa
21 George Horne
22 Adam Hastings
23 Nikola Matawalu
Unavailable players: Adam Ashe (ankle), Matt Fagerson (knee), Nick Grigg (head), Robert Harley (knee), Stuart Hogg (hip), Rory Hughes (shoulder), Oli Kebble (foot), Pat MacArthur (hamstring), Greg Peterson (ankle), Tim Swinson (hand), Ratu Tagive (achilles), Richie Vernon (Achilles) and Lewis Wynne (concussion)