Coventry v Cardiff: Capital One Cup casualty list grows

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has yet to fully convince at Cardiff

The Capital One Cup first round has been as chaos-rife as ever, and Cardiff risk being the latest victims...

Coventry v Cardiff
Wednesday, 19:45
Live on Sky Sports 1

Match Odds: Coventry 3.711/4, Cardiff 2.111/10, The Draw 3.8514/5

This previewer was left exposed on Tuesday by an ill-advised attempt to build a Capital One Cup first round fourfold of favourites who could be trusted to deliver when, in reality, upsets are so prevalent that picking four outsiders to triumph would probably have been a wiser approach.

Blackburn (Scunthorpe), Wigan (Burton), Ipswich (Crawley), Blackpool (Shrewsbury) and Wolves (Northampton) were all humbled, while Birmingham (Cambridge), Huddersfield (Chesterfield), Brentford (Dagenham), Rotherham (Fleetwood) and Bolton (Bury) required extra time or penalties.

Just think: Coventry v Cardiff was picked ahead of that dectet of games for TV coverage presumably because it is deemed to possess even greater shock potential.

The broadcasters don't always get it right - Derby eventually prevailed at Carlisle on Monday night after waiting over an hour for a breakthrough - but you can see why they sniff a surprise at Sixfields.

Since dropping into League One in 2012, Coventry have faced Championship clubs twice and got the better of both occasions, beating Birmingham after extra time in this competition in 2012/13 and eliminating Barnsley at Oakwell in last season's FA Cup.

Cardiff were Capital One Cup finalists in 2012, yet were directed to the exit by lower-league hosts in the years either side, with Peterborough masterminding their 2010/11 downfall and Northampton removing them in 2012/13 at the stadium that Coventry now share.

The red-shirted Bluebirds were also forced into hasty FA Cup farewells by teams operating at a lesser level in the past two campaigns. Wigan conquered them in the Welsh capital last term, while Macclesfield shamed them in 2012/13.

This writer isn't as optimistic about Cardiff's 2014/15 prospects as the Betfair punters who rate them 12.011/1 fourth favourites to win the Championship, both because Ole Gunnar Solskjaer remains a question mark and the squad that he has built doesn't seem the most balanced.

The eye-catching summer additions were all up front - Adam Le Fondre, Federico Macheda and Javi Guerra - whereas they look ordinary at full back and a lot of their midfield investments have been in potential rather than proven quality: Magnus Wolff Eikrem, Tom Adeyemi and Mats Moller Daehli. Until these doubts are dispersed, let's lay all the way.

Best Bet: Lay Cardiff to win @ 2.1211/10