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Sky Bet Championship betting tips: Brentford v Cardiff best bets and preview
Brentford host Cardiff in the early Championship match, and our tipster Joe Rindl is looking to continue his fine EFL form with a 10/1 fancy.
Football betting tips: Brentford v Cardiff
1.5pts Draw at half-time, Brentford to win at full-time at 7/2 (General)
0.5pts Draw at half-time, Cardiff to win at full-time at 10/1 (Sporting Index)
It’s a story of what might have been for both Brentford and Cardiff who meet each other in West London on Tuesday night.
The (Blue)Birds and the Bees often strike up difficult conversations and this fixture is no different, with both sides highly likely to miss out on their respective Sky Bet Championship targets having looked so good a few months ago.
For Brentford, who narrowly lost last year’s Play-Off final, that aspiration was automatic promotion. After an undefeated run of 21 matches at the start of the year it seemed on the cards, with the Londoners propelled into the top two.
But three losses at the end of February saw Norwich City and Watford pull away. Thomas Frank’s side may have stopped the rot with no defeats in their past seven, but five of those results have been draws.
It means they’re fourth, eight points behind Watford in second and two behind Swansea in third having played one game fewer.
As for Cardiff, they went on a six-match winning streak almost immediately after Mick McCarthy took the helm. But like the Bees they’ve struggled since the end of February, winning two of their last 10.
The gap is now far too wide for the Bluebirds to sneak into the top six, and it’s likely to be a tame end of the season for a side who seemed destined for a play-off push.
So there’s actually very little to play for at Brentford Community Stadium. I’m sure Brentford will hope to cement third place for an easier play-off semi-final, while McCarthy will want his players to finish the season well.
But I really can’t see a repeat of the frantic thriller that saw a Sergi Canos second-half hat-trick help Brentford come from behind on Boxing Day in the reverse fixture.
And crucially, neither can the Bookies, with under 2.5 totals goals odds-on and under 1.5 goals a smidge over 2/1 in most places.
There’s also no value with both teams not to score, or clean sheet wins for either side. The experts all have this one as a drab, dire and tiresome affair.
Should I back Brentford?
I have managed to unearth a tiny ray of value in the low-scoring markets though. While a draw at half-time is barely over evens and for it to be goalless at the break is still under 2/1, a DRAW AT HALF-TIME, BRENTFORD TO WIN AT FULL-TIME is 7/2.
Both sides have failed to find the net in the first period in three of their last four. A tight, cagey first-half followed by one moment of quality - or mistake - in the second seems very logical. It’s a bet that’s come in for me in similar Championship tussles.
Brentford haven’t conceded in each of their last three games, but if you did fancy a gamble, why not split your money and place a little on DRAW AT HALF-TIME, CARDIFF TO WIN AT FULL-TIME. That’s a mammoth 10/1 with Sporting Index and rightly so given it hasn’t happened since Cardiff were goalless at the break away to Luton before winning the fixture 2-0 13 games ago.
But as I said, these sides haven’t liked scoring early in April. If a goal comes, it comes in the second half. It may just be off a Cardiff player's boot.
Brentford v Cardiff best bet and score prediction
- 1.5pts Draw at half-time, Brentford to win at full-time at 7/2
- 0.5pts Draw at half-time, Cardiff to win at full-time at 10/1
Score prediction: Brentford 1-0 Cardiff (Sky Bet odds: 5/1)
Odds correct at 1530 BST (19/04/21)
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