The Championship weekend begins on Friday night when promotion chasing Cardiff City head north to take on a Huddersfield Town side who for the second season in succession find themselves looking in the wrong direction.
Cardiff get the chance to move back into the top six if they can find a win in this match while Huddersfield will be able to ease themselves away from immediate danger of the drop should they come out on top.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels with the build up beginning at 7pm and the match itself kicking off at 7.45pm.
Huddersfield Town
This has been a transition season for Huddersfield Town. They have changed on the pitch from the direct style of the Cowley brothers to the possession based outlook employed by Carlos Corberan while at the same time they have had to lose some of the bigger earners on their books as well. That is never a recipe for an outstanding season but until recently things were looking relatively comfortable for the Terriers in terms of their league position.
Just one win in 12 since the turn of the year has seen them plummet dangerously towards the relegation zone. That win came against a Swansea City side who were undone by some nasty injuries in the game too so it wasn’t a true reflection of form. Huddersfield sit five points above the drop but they’ll be all too aware that the side chasing them, Rotherham United, have two games in hand so it is imperative that they start picking up points soon.
Cardiff City
This has been a season of two parts for Cardiff City. The first part of it they were going nowhere and clearly underachieving under Neil Harris but then when they got rid of him and installed Mick McCarthy they have turned into world beaters. They are undefeated in their 10 matches under the veteran boss and gone from dicing on the edge of a relegation struggle to being on the fringes of the play-off places in a matter of weeks.
Cardiff have won seven of their last eight matches heading into this one with the anomaly being a draw at Middlesbrough which isn’t exactly a terrible result. The Bluebirds look to be in good form but they will know they need to maintain that because both Bournemouth and Barnsley are also in good touch. The Welsh outfit will be well aware that they are the first of that trio in action this week so have the chance to put the pressure on the others here.
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Team News
Huddersfield have a few defensive issues going into this match with Yaya Sanogo not yet ready to make his first start. Richard Keogh will be hoping to come into the side with Christopher Schindler and Harry Toffolo both on the sidelines.
Cardiff will be forced into a change after left-back Joe Bennett picked up a knee injury in the win over Derby in midweek. Joel Bagan might be the one to come into the side for him while Harry Wilson could start after sitting out the midweek game.
Betting
It is hard not to like Cardiff City in this match. I say that because the form of these two sides are chalk and cheese but also because the depth in quality of the squad of the Welsh outfit is very much better despite them both exiting the Premier League at the same time. Cardiff are a side who know where they are and look to be hell bent on a return to the top flight this term whereas Huddersfield are in a bit of a transition period where inconsistency is always going to be an issue.
I’m always slightly wary about taking away sides off the back of a relatively short turnaround but we are in a relentless part of the season so the disadvantage is hopefully minimalised somewhat. It does mean that I’ll bet with some draw cover but there is a massive gap in the form of these two sides and I don’t expect Huddersfield to bridge it over the course of such a short period of time. Cardiff are going great guns at the minute and can pick up another positive result here.
Tips
HALF LOSS – Back Cardiff City (-0.25AH) to beat Huddersfield Town for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with BetVictor
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