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The Championship gets underway next weekend and the first match of the season on Friday 17th August sees Cardiff City host Huddersfield Town.
Looking at the home side to begin with, they are looking to bounce back from the disappointment of losing in the play-off semi-final to West Ham.
The Welsh side have been the nearly men over recent years, and have reached the top six for the last three seasons.
This campaign, Malkay Mackay will be looking for his team to finish in the automatic promotion spots and he will know how important a good start to the year is in order to achieve that.
Heidar Helguson has joined Cardiff this summer and he looks to be a superb signing for the club. The Iceland striker has scored goals at the highest level and has the experience of being promoted from the Championship.
His experience and knowhow is sure to help the squad in their bid to make it to the Premier League.
As for Huddersfield, they will be full of confidence and momentum after being promoted from League One back in May.
Simon Grayson will look at the success of Norwich and Southampton in the last two seasons as both secured back to back promotions.
Grayson will be hoping his side can emulate this success and be one of the surprise packages in the second tier of English football this year.
With Jordan Rhodes in their side this is certainly possible as he seems to be one of the best young goal-scorers around. Rhodes has been linked with a move away from the Terriers but looks set to stay.
He scored 37 goals in the league last year and if he can continue that form then Grayson’s men will be in great shape for a top six finish.
Match Odds
It is no surprise that home advantage looks to be the key in this fixture and Cardiff can be backed to take all three points at 1.83 (5/6) with Bet365.
Huddersfield will know it will take a fantastic performance to come out on top here. They have odds of 4.50 (7/2) with BlueSQ.
A draw is then available at 2.50 (5/2) with BetFred.
Correct Score
A 1-0 win for Cardiff looks to be the best bet at the moment as it has odds of 7.50 (13/2) with BWIN.
Huddersfield winning by the same score-line is then being offered at 12.00 (11/1) with William Hill.
Recommended Bet
Huddersfield may come flying out of the traps in this encounter and could go into the half-time break with the lead. This happing but Cardiff then taking all three points can be backed at 26.00 (25/1) with Coral.
