Bet of the day: Bluebirds whistling a winning tune
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We stick our noses into a battle near the bottom of the Championship
Welcome to the highlight of the sporting week and there’s no lack of options to consider for our bet of the day. Saturday’s NAP goes at the Cardiff City Stadium where the locals look to continue their progression with a win over fellow Championship strugglers Burton Albion.
This is a real six-pointer. That may be a cliché in football, but it’s worth a mention here as both sides go into the weekend floating around the relegation zone. The Bluebirds have managed to put up just eight wins from their first 25 starts, and may go as a bit of a surprise pick for our best bet of the day, but they are on the up.
Cardiff capable of better
Neil Warnock’s side have lost just one of their last seven, the spare coming courtesy of a 4-3 reverse against Barnsley in mid-December, but fans will take much more from wins over Wolves, Aston Villa and Bristol City.
The Bluebirds were last seen getting the better of The Robins with the odd goal in five, thanks to strikes from Harris and a Pilkington double, snatching the Severnside derby 3-2. Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of that win for followers of Cardiff was the way in which they finished the match, fighting back from 2-1 down to claim the points with goals in 82 and 85-minutes.
Burton on a losing run
While that drama was unfolding at Ashton Gate, Burton were falling to their 13 defeat of the season, losing 2-0 to second-bottom Wigan. That was The Latics first three points since November, and Albion’s sixth defeat in seven.
The visitors are now just a point better off than the relegation zone and have failed to score in each of their two league starts this year. Manager Nigel Clough must make do for this one without Jackson Irvine and Will Miller while Jamie Ward has been recalled from his loan spell back to Nottingham Forest. That makes the Brewers’ task all the more difficult.
Settle for home comforts
On recent form Cardiff are the winners of this and I am happy to give them the nod now that they have a bit of momentum behind them. Warnock brought goalkeeper Alan McGregor in on-loan and that’s a massive capture for them, with the Scotsman boasting international experience as well as a career spent winning important matches at Rangers.
Coral are offering 5/6 on a home win at the time of writing and I make that my bet of the day. If you’d like to push your luck, 2/1 has been sent out about them winning to nil, which looks lively, given Burton’s problems in front of goal.
