Playing Away: Travel triumphs for Cardiff, Brighton and Bolton
Ryan Forrester picks three sides who look well placed to return home with all three points this weekend from their respective games on the road.
As the Championship table begins to take shape, three sides aiming to be there or thereabouts in the race for promotion come the end of the season all face trips away this weekend and look good to secure maximum points.
While the main idea of the ‘Playing Away’ column is to identify the three best candidates to consider for an individual punt, those feeling lucky and backing the treble with their free £20 bet received after registering with bwin would see a return of £310.96 should the trio come in.
Cardiff to beat Ipswich @ 13/10
Back-to-back league victories enabled Malky Mackay’s promotion-chasing Cardiff side move to the top of the Championship on Tuesday evening for the first time since their opening evening fixture after they saw off Birmingham 2-1 at home.
As has been the case in recent years before eventually slipping into the play-off positions, the Bluebirds have got off to a flying start, with six wins from their opening nine league games, and they look serious contenders for automatic promotion.
| Primera Division | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valencia | 2-0 | Granada | £130.00 | (11/2) |
| Valencia | 2-1 | Granada | £155.00 | (27/4) |
| Valencia | 3-0 | Granada | £160.00 | (7/1) |
| Valencia win | £25.00 | (1/4) | ||
| Draw | £105.00 | (17/4) | ||
| Granada win | £250.00 | (23/2) | ||
Paul Jewell’s Ipswich haven’t had quite as successful a start to the new campaign as their opponents, as they head into this game without a league win in seven matches and sit above only bottom club Peterborough in the table.
The Tractor Boys are yet to win a league game at Portman Road this campaign, picking up a draw and losing two of their five home games, and head into this clash on the back of a share of the spoils with Brighton on Tuesday.
Brighton to beat Derby @ 8/5
Gus Poyet’s Brighton surrendered their lead at the summit of the table after being held to a 1-1 draw at home to Ipswich to make it 17 points recorded from a possible 27 for the south-coast club.
The Seagulls have made a fine start to the season and have looked particularly impressive on their travels, picking up maximum points from their three matches on the road so far, which were part of a run of five successive league victories.
Brighton will be hoping for a repeat of their meetings with Derby last term as they saw off the Rams on both occasions without conceding, emerging 1-0 victors at Pride Park back in November, before a comfortable 2-0 win at home in March.
Derby were on the wrong end of a 2-1 scoreline against Burnley in their last outing at Pride Park and left it late on Tuesday evening to grab a point at Middlesbrough.
Bolton to beat Millwall @ 8/5
Since their relegation from the Premier League, Bolton’s start to the Championship season hasn’t gone quite as smoothly as expected, as they currently find themselves sitting 18th in the table.
Next up for the Trotters is a visit to south London to face Millwall, who have picked up just eight points from their opening nine games and currently occupy a relegation spot as they enter the game without a win in five.
Owen Coyle’s men secured maximum points in their last outing away from home, seeing off newly-promoted Sheffield Wednesday 2-1, and go in search of their second win away from the Reebok against the struggling Lions.
It certainly won’t be an easy game for the Lancashire club, but they should have enough quality to see off their opponents and have been priced as favourites to return to the north-west with all three points.
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