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2011-08-23 - Cardiff vs Huddersfield
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : Carling Cup
Tuesday 23 August 2011 - Kickoff 7:45pm
Cardiff
Cardiff manager Malky Mackay has admitted he would be playing a strong team in this competition even if his squad was fully fit, but now he will have no choice but to play the players that have started the season and hope they can get through to the international break to recover.
The Bluebirds have made a decent start in the Championship this season under their new boss in what was expected to be a difficult campaign. The loss of Jay Bothroyd and Michael Chopra was always going to be tough to overcome, but the team are 8th in the table after picking up 7 points from their opening 4 games. Cardiff are 1-0-1 at home, scoring 4 goals and conceding 4 goals.
They have failed to win their last 2 games after opening the season with 3 wins, although 1 of those came in extra time at Oxford in the 1st Round of this competition.
Rudy Gestede is expected to be given a start after coming off the bench on Saturday at Burnley.
Huddersfield
Lee Clark has had to pick up his side following their close loss in the Play Offs last season, although he does have a squad capable of making their way into the top 6 of League One again this season, despite the loss of some key players over the Summer.
The Terriers moved up to 11th in League One following their first League win of the season. However, the team have picked up 6 points from a possible 12 and remain unbeaten. Huddersfield are 0-2-0 away from home, scoring 2 goals and conceding 2.
Huddersfield beat Port Vale 2-4 away from home in the last Round of the Carling Cup, the only away win so far this season. They had to come from behind to beat Colchester United on Saturday at home, but they had drawn their previous 2 games at Hartlepool and Rochdale.
Gary Roberts and Gary Naysmith are both doubts with injuries. Damien Johnson has been out of action for 8 months, but there are suggestions he will be given a run out in this game.
Head to Head
These two teams last met in the 2002/03 season when both were League One sides.
Cardiff won 4-0 at home that season, but Huddersfield did win on their previous visit to this part of Wales.
Prediction
Again I will start off by saying how difficult it is to make a profit in the Carling Cup at this early stage of the season.
However, Malky Mackay is due to play a strong Cardiff team and they will be expected to push forward in front of their own fans. Mackay has already spoken of his desire for a cup run so the motivation seems to be in a good place.
Lee Clark's Huddersfield are a very good team to be fair to them, but the home advantage for Cardiff could be the key and I will take them to come through.
The Pick :
Cardiff 2-1 Huddersfield
