Eng. Championship
2010-04-03 - Cardiff City vs Swansea City
A Sports Betting Pick by Armchair
Football : England : Championship
Saturday 3rd April 2010 – Kickoff 5:20pm
Well, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to write up a preview on this bitterly-contested Welsh derby match for this weekend.
Hosts Cardiff City entertain their Welsh counterparts Swansea City at their Cardiff City Stadium which provides the stage of the battle of the birds – The Bluebirds v The Swans.
Cardiff City (4th) Home : 10-5-5 32:17
Cardiff City are currently enjoying a pretty decent run at home where they have only lost one of their last nine matches (a surprise 0-2 reverse against Barnsley), but have registered good wins over Middlesbrough (1-0), Watford (3-1) & Leicester City (2-1).
Cardiff have also held their own with 1-1 draws against West Brom & Sheffield United.
With an overall home record of 10-5-5 32/17, at first glance you’d think that Cardiff are regularly involved in high-scoring games (ie Over 2.5)? Not quite. Out of 20 home matches, only 7 have been over 2.5 with a further 13 matches ending Under 2.5. That’s a -6 rating for Over/Under 2.5.
There are defensive worries for manager Dave Jones, along with winger Chris Burke (9 goals, 7 assists) and midfielder Joe Ledley (2 goals) also both ruled out and Kelvin Etuhu (on loan from Man City) also doubtful.
Swansea City (5th) Away : 7-8-5 18:20
Swansea City have experienced a bit of a topsy-turvy away run of late with mixed fortunes.
Away wins for Swansea over Crystal Palace, Derby County & Watford (all 1-0), and losses to Nottingham Forest (0-1) and then a 1-5 thrashing at Blackpool which seemed to come from nowhere.
Overall though, the Swans have an Over/Under ratio of 4/16 in their 20 away matches to date, which is a rating of -12 - an Under 2.5 candidate if ever I saw one!
Swansea's away record reads 7-8-5 18/20, while their leading scorer, is midfielder Darren Pratley (6 goals). Creativity doesn’t seem to be a strong point either with Nathan Dyer (4 assists) leading the way.
The Betting Veridct :
With only 3 points separating these two, the fact that it’s a local derby, and given the current over/under ratios of the sides, I’m plumping for a low-scoring game.
If I had to go for a scoreline I’d probably go for a 1-1 draw.
The Pick :
Cardiff City1-1 Swansea City
