Bristol City v Huddersfield
Friday 17th March, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports 1

Bristol City


Bristol City ended a seven-match winless streak by collecting a pivotal three points against fellow relegation battlers Wigan last weekend. Nevertheless, Blackburn's midweek draw at Fulham has kept the Robins entrenched in the bottom-three of the Championship.

Lee Johnson's position remains under major scrutiny but City are a better side than their league position suggests; the Robins are unbeaten in three and won the shot count 52-25 against the Latics, Norwich and Burton. Their positive return across the major performance data metrics continues to impress.

Profligate finishing and the capacity to implode has too often proven the Cider Army's downfall this term but Korey Smith performed admirably at right-back last time out and a welcome return to action for top scorer Tammy Abraham also gave Johnson a major selection boost.

Huddersfield

Only three sides have won promotion to the Premier League at odds of 33/1 or larger in the past 10 years but 40/1 shots Huddersfield refuse to buckle in their bid for Premier League football next season.

The Terriers bounced back from defeat to Newcastle with back-to-back victories making it eight triumphs in 10 Championship outings for David Wagner's men. Last weekend's 1-0 win at Brentford, courtesy of a deflected Rajiv van La Parra shot, moved Town to within six points of top-two Newcastle and Brighton.

Aaron Mooy and Izzy Brown were rested last weekend but are both expected to return to the fold at Ashton Gate with Harry Bunn and Kasey Palmer the only players definitely ruled out for the visitors.

Match Odds

Bristol City, 3.30, won six of their first 11 Championship games this season but have since collected only four victories from 26. Only three teams in the four English professional leagues have picked up fewer points than City over the past 15 fixtures and the hosts have W1-D3-L5 in their last nine at home.

Huddersfield2.46, have claimed nine away wins this season - the last time the Terriers accrued 10 triumphs on their travels in the second-tier was way back in 1969/70 when Town achieved promotion to the top-flight.

Wagner has been keen to caution against complacency but the visitors have eked out 13 maximum pointers in their most recent 18 Championship dates and boast a wonderful W13-D3-L1 return against clubs in 14th and below.

While an away win appears the most likely, I'm going to boost the price to 3.40 by backing Huddersfield to win by exactly one goal in the Winning Margin market. A huge 20 of the Terriers' 22 triumphs have arrived by a solitary strike and 16 of Bristol City's 19 league losses have followed a similar pattern.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

Bristol City have scored in each of their last 10 home league games against Huddersfield, a run stretching back to 1989. And the hosts have seen Over 2.5 Goals bank in each of their past four encounters with the Terriers.

The Robins tend to be involved in goal-heavy games against the league's leading lights - five of their past eight at Ashton Gate against top-six clubs have featured at least four goals - but with only four of their most recent 11 outings breaking the Over 2.5 Goals2.12 barrier, I'm happy to leave the market alone.

In the five games that City missed the predatory poaching of Tammy Abraham, the Robins fired three blanks but with Huddersfield allowing their opponents the fewest shots in the league this season, plus 11/18 (61%) of their away ties falling below the three-goal line, I'm happy to swerve siding with goals.

Recommended Bets
Back Huddersfield to win by exactly one goal 3.40


0 nhận xét Blogger 0 Facebook

Post a Comment

 
Top