As the season continues its relentless march forward, league action briefly steps aside in many countries this week as cup competitions take centre stage. With knockout football comes heightened intensity, surprise results and high-stakes, making every fixture feel even more significant.
Read on for today’s best booking codes – all odds are available at time of writing and 90 minutes only:
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Cardiff City vs Chelsea
Chelsea will be looking to avoid a slip-up against lower-league opponents Cardiff City when the two come together later today in the first of the four quarter-finals in the 2025/26 EFL Cup.
The Blues have recently ended their underwhelming run of four matches without a win with a confidence-boosting 2-0 victory against Everton in the English Premier League, and they will be aiming to build on that with a commanding triumph over Cardiff City.
While Cardiff are heading into the game with six wins and only one loss in their last seven outings, Chelsea are undoubtedly the favourites to take all three points given their far superior quality in their squad, and for that reason, we are backing the visitors to secure a victory with several goals scored.
Chelsea to win & over 2.5 goals, 1.71 – 3SWB72F
Guadalajara vs Barcelona
In a similar vein as the EFL Cup meeting, Barcelona head into this Copa del Rey round of 32 clash as the overwhelming favourites to secure a comprehensive victory against a lower league opposition.
Guadalajara may boast the home advantage, but they are undeniably weaker than their visitors, while they have also won just two of their last eight games, alongside four defeats and two draws.
Even with Barcelona expected to heavily rotate for the encounter, the Blaugrana should be more than capable of recording a victory with a significant scoreline, and we are backing them to do exactly that, with a win and over 3.5 goals scored.
Barcelona & over 3.5 goals, 1.71 – 3SWB8B3
Eldense vs Real Sociedad
Real Sociedad are in desperate need of a win heading into this Copa del Rey clash after losing each of their last two matches, and all of their last three La Liga games, and there will be no better opportunity to end that streak than with a clash against Eldense.
While Eldense are in impressive form, with only one loss in their last 11 matches across all competitions, the hosts are undoubtedly the underdogs heading into this encounter with a La Liga opponent.
With Real Sociedad’s clear advantage in quality in mind, we are backing the away team to win here.
Real Sociedad to win, 1.77 – 3SWB92F
Sporting Gijon vs Valencia
Sporting Gijon may fancy their chances heading into this Copa del Rey encounter with Valencia, as the hosts have won all of their last three matches heading into the clash, while the visitors have won only two of their last seven games across all competitions.
Despite Sporting Gijon also boasting the home advantage, the visitors are the clearly stronger team given their La Liga quality, while Valencia have also dominated this encounter in recent history.
Valencia have won each of their last two meetings, with an aggregate score of 7-0, while they have also won five of their last six visits to Sporting Gjion’s home ground, leading us to expect a comfortable away win.
Valencia to win, 2.46 – 3SWB5HQ
Overall Booking Code: 3SWBC6Z, Odds: 12.73
