Cardiff City - Middlesbrough predictions

Cardiff City are considerably weaker than their opponents in this round of the Championship, and a victory for them would be quite a surprise. We wouldn’t bet on it, though – at odds of 4.20, it’s not very likely to happen.

If everything goes according to plan and Middlesbrough put their best foot forward we expect to see an away win in this match.

The Bluebirds head into the Saturday fixture with their head held high following a Swansea City away draw. They were not expected to come out with anything from their previous Championship game so this point will be a big morale booster for them.

Middlesbrough were aiming for a routine home win against Portsmouth in the last round of the Championship. However, things went off the rails as The Boro were trailing behind after the first 45 minutes. Fortunately, they managed to at least save their pride by claiming a point with a 2:2 draw.

Looking over the home team’s recent record, we can see a worrying trend. They’ve conceded more than 5 goals over the past 3 matches alone, indicating problems in their defensive lineup.

The Boro met Cardiff City several times in the previous season and managed to handily beat them every time. The head-to-head stats are showing multiple consecutive victories with 2 or more goals ahead, so the fact most bookies are expecting an away win is quite understandable.

Both rosters have been impacted by an unfortunate string of injuries, leaving them with limited options. The favoured visitors will be short Jonathan Howson, Alex Bangura, Tommy Smith, Marcus Forss, while Jamilu Collins, Joe Ralls, Kion Etete, Ryotaro Tsunoda, Isaak Davies, William Fish will not play for the home team.

An Over 3.5 Goals bet is easily the smartest choice for this fixture, consider in the teams’ respective histories. It’s a considerably more probable outcome than it seems, so the 1 odds are great value.