Cardiff v Middlesbrough tips: Championship preview and best bets
Saturday's lunchtime kick-off sees strugglers Cardiff take on Neil Warnock's Middlesbrough. Joe Rindl has the preview and best bet.
Football betting tips: Championship
1.5pts BTTS 'No' at 10/11 (General)
Things aren’t looking good for Cardiff who host former manager Neil Warnock's side Middlesbrough on Saturday afternoon.
The Bluebirds are hoping to end their worst run of form since 1934 with Mick McCarthy’s team hovering just above the relegation zone having lost a seventh successive match last time out.
Worryingly, the Welsh side have scored just once across their seven-match losing run - a consolation goal in a 5-1 thrashing at the hands of Blackburn Rovers.
Few expected McCarthy to keep his job after a humiliating 3-0 defeat to rivals Swansea earlier this month. But the former Republic of Ireland boss was still at the helm for Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Fulham.
Is Saturday’s game his final opportunity to save himself?
Kick-off time: 12:30 BST, Saturday
TV channel: Sky Sports Football
Cardiff 6/4 | Draw 9/4 | Middlesbrough 15/8
In the opposite dugout is veteran boss Warnock who guided the Bluebirds to promotion in 2018.
Now, almost a quarter of the way into Warnock’s second season in charge, three wins from their past four have propelled Boro to within three points of the play-offs.
And the underlying data backs up the visitors’ recent form, with their past three matches seeing them easily win the expected goals battle.
They may currently be in 10th, but Infogol’s numbers have them forecasted to finish inside the top six.
Infogol’s data also suggest that Cardiff’s run of bad form is a result of some serious bad luck. Take for instance Cardiff’s 1-0 loss to Reading three games ago. The expected goals scoreline for that match was 2.04 - 0.09 in Cardiff’s favour.
A series of unfortunate results mean the Bluebirds are 21st when Infogol’s expected points tally has them as high as ninth.
As such, I’m not that surprised to see a home team who have lost their past five games in front of their own fans priced up as short as 11/8.
With the outrights offering little I’m instead turning to BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE ‘NO’ at 10/11 (general).
That has come through in five of Cardiff’s last six fixtures and eight of Middlesbrough’s past 10.
Cardiff v Middlesbrough best bets and score prediction
1.5pts BTTS 'No' at 10/11 (General)
- Score prediction: Cardiff 0-1 Middlesbrough (Sky Bet odds: 7/1)
Odds correct at 1700 BST (21/10/21)
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