Friday’s football tips: Blackburn card machine McLoughlin 4/1 to go in the book against Wolves

The new EFL Championship campaign gets underway tonight as Wolverhampton Wanderers take on Blackburn Rovers at Molineux.

Wolves are back in the second tier after an eight-year stay in the Premier League and it will be interesting to see how they respond to relegation.

The bookies have them as second favourites for the title behind West Ham and tonight's opener with Blackburn will give us a better idea of how they are shaping up.

Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Blackburn Rovers top betting tips

Blackburn Rovers just missed out on the play-offs last term, finishing seventh, so they should provide Wolves with a test in this Championship opener.

But the Molineux men have managed to keep a strong squad together after relegation while the return of Raul Jimenez up front will give them a boost.

Wolves coasted to a 3-0 win over Port Vale in the EFL Cup last Friday and Bet365 make them 1/2 hot favourites tonight.

There's more value in the player markets and impressive youngster Mateus Mane is a tempting 11/10 to score or assist at Bet365.

Rovers defender Sean McLoughlin was good value for cards last term, picking up 11 yellows and one red. He's 4/1 to collect another card tonight while backing him for over 1.5 fouls pays 6/5 at Bet365.

Kilmarnock vs Ayr United

There's an Ayrshire derby in the Scottish League Cup tonight as Ayr United look to pile on the pain for rivals Kilmarnock.

It has been a worrying start to the SPFL Premiership campaign for Killie, with Neil McCann's men shipping nine goals in defeats to St Johnstone and Celtic.

That came as something of a surprise after the Rugby Park side went through their entire League Cup group campaign without conceding a single goal.

But Kilmarnock were lucky the score stopped at just five against Celtic and they now face an Ayr side who are flying under new boss Gary Naysmith.

He has steered the Honest Men to five wins and a draw in his first six game so Bet365 may live to regret pricing the Championship side at 9/4 to qualify.

Backing a busy night for the ref is always a good option in a derby and over 3.5 cards is 4/5 at Bet365. For longer odds, backing both teams for two or more card pays 13/8 with the same firm.

Sporting CP vs Vitoria Guimaraes

Sporting Lisbon dropped two points in their domestic opener last weekend so they will be desperate to get a first win on the board when Vitoria Guimaraes come calling tonight.

Porto pinched the title from Sporting last term and it will be interesting to see how they respond under Rui Borges.

It looked like Sporting CP would get off to a winning start away to Estrela but they let a two-goal slip in the final 18 minutes and had to settle for a point.

Vitoria Guimaraes had an even worse start, losing 1-0 at home to Arouca, so both teams will be looking for a much better performance.

Sporting have won nine in a row at home against Vitoria so it's easy to see why Bet365 make them 2/9 favourites for this one.

The last meeting in Lisbon was a 5-1 drubbing so there could be some value in backing Sporting to win both halves at 6/4.

New signing Rodrigo Zalazar netted on his Sporting debut last week and bagged 22 goals for Braga last term. He's 11/10 for another goal tonight and that could be worth a punt.

Super singles

• Sean McLoughlin to be carded 4/1 Bet365
• Both teams two or more cards in Kilmarnock vs Ayr United 13/8 Bet365
• Rodrigo Zalazar anytime scorer 11/10 Bet365

Upcoming match previews and betting tips

• Fri 20:00 Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Blackburn Rovers
• Desmond’s Goals Tips: BTTS, To Score 2, Over 2.5 Goals and 46/1 Goals Acca Tips

Racing tips

There's some tasty Friday races and our main man has picked out some horses to watch.

• All the latest racing tips

As always, leave your own tips and comments below.

🔗 Share on Social Media