Both the Bluebirds and the Terriers were dumped out of the renamed League Cup earlier in the week, with Malky Mackay’s men going down 2-1 at Northampton Town while Simon Grayson’s outfit slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Preston North End.

However, the respective players have the chance to make amends when they quickly return to action in the Championship which promises to as tough to get out of again this term, with the second tier one of the hardest to predict on an annual basis.

Friday’s night’s encounter at the Cardiff City Stadium will whet the appetite ahead of a big weekend which also sees Leeds and Wolves go head to head at Elland Road on Saturday while 6/1 Championship outright favourites Bolton, who were relegated from the Premier League last term, kick off at Burnley.

Cardiff will be desperate to make 2012-12 their season after so many near-misses over the last few years, with the success of Swansea in making the Promised Land of the Premier League compounding their recent misery.

The Bluebirds made the League Cup final last season where they gave Liverpool a real run for their money, however their third consecutive play-off campaign ended in defeat to eventual winners West Ham which means they are chalking up a decade in the Championship this year.

In contrast, Huddersfield would love to be able to boast of 10 years in the second tier after dropping down the leagues before restoring their status last year following a League One play-off final win over Sheffield United at Wembley.

The Terriers start the season as 12/1 chances for promotion but will be mindful of the fact the likes of Norwich and Southampton have recently proved it is possible to achieve back-to-back promotions to reach the Premier League.

With Cardiff and Huddersfield both losing in the League Cup it could well be a cagey affair is on the cards in south Wales on Friday night, with both managers aware that getting into the losing habit at this early stage of the season is something to be avoided.

The Bluebirds will definitely be a lot stronger than the side which lost to the Cobblers, with Kevin McNaughton, Mark Hudson, Ben Turner and Andrew Taylor all back in contention after missing the trip to Sixfields while recent signing Craig Bellamy could make his second debut.

The Terriers are sweating on the fitness of winger Danny Ward (ankle) but otherwise are fully-fit which could mean league debuts for Sean Scannell, Paul Dixon, Oliver Norwood, Keith Southern, Adam Clayton, Joel Lynch and former Cardiff man Anthony Gerrard.

Striker Jordan Rhodes will also go into the game on a high after scoring his first senior international goal for Scotland in the midweek win over Australia and he is a 6/1 chance to net first.

The two sides have not met in the league since 2003 but did clash in the Carling Cup last August, with eventual runners-up Cardiff winning 5-3 after extra time.

Value Bet: Craig Bellamy to score anytime for Cardiff – 3/2.

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The competition kicks off with two mouthwatering Group A ties with Belarus taking on Iceland in Aarhus and the hosts facing Switzerland in Aalborg in two matches that could shape the competition. All the sides will be looking for a strong start and will hope a good performance will set the tone for the rest of the tournament as they look to be crowned European Champions.

The opening match sees two of the surprise packages of qualifying take on each other and Belarus will be hoping to make an impact in their debut appearance in the competition. They surprised a number of people by beating Italy in the play-offs and will be looking to striker Vladamr Yurchenko,  who scored twice in their 3-0 victory over the Italians in Monks, to once again fire them to glory (Yurchenko 8/1 to be the first goalscorer).

Iceland were the conquerors of Scotland in the play-offs and much of their hopes will be pinned on former Reading youngster Gylfi Sigurdsson who has started for Hoffenheim in this year’s Bundesliga. Sigurdsson is highly-regarded by many clubs in Europe and could be one of the stars of the tournament after such a strong domestic season (Sigurdsson 15/8 to score against Belarus).

Belarus looked to have quite a strong side but Sigurdsson is a truly class player and could be the difference in what is sure to be an intriguing contest.

The second match sees hosts Denmark face much-fancied Switzerland, with the hosts looking to lay down a marker while the Swiss are tipped by many as dark horses for the title.

The main man for Denmark is Villareal striker Nicki Bille, who boasts a superb international scoring record of 15 goals in 21 games and could be the man to fire the Danes to glory. On the other side Switzerland are currently enjoying the fruits of their ‘golden generation’ and much is expected of their current crop of youngsters.

Five of their squad were involved in the full team’s recent 2-2 draw with England at Wembley and seem bred to play exciting, attacking football. Key to this is playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri, who was one of the stars of the Wembley clash, and much is excited of him as Swiss football emerges from the doldrums.

Unfortunately for the hosts, Switzerland could be the victors here due to their extra experience and the Shaqiri factor (Switzerland 2/1 to beat Denmark).

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