Eng. Championship
2008-05-13 - Bristol City vs Crystal Palace
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
English Championship Playoff Semi-final - 2nd Leg
Tuesday - 13th May 2008 - KO 19:45
First Leg : Crystal Palace 1-2 Bristol City
BRSITOL CITY
Bristol City eventually ended in 4th spot in the Championship as their bid for automatic promotion fell at the tail end of the season.
They will be hoping their home record of 13-7-3 with 33 goals scored and 20 conceded will help them secure a spot at Wembley and a shot at making the Premier League. Only Hull City and Ipswich conceded less goals at home this season and only Ipswich lost less times at home. Goals have been a problem for Bristol City this year, and they are one of the lower scorers in the league.
Bristol City have lost 5 of their last 9 games and have only won 3 of their previous 12 games. City have won 2 of their last 3 at Ashton Gate and they have kept clean sheets in their previous 2 games at home. City have only lost 1 of their last 11 games at home in the Championship.
Bristol City have no new injury worries for this game. Lee Johnson is available again but is likely to settle for a place on the bench.
CRYSTAL PALACE
Crystal Palace finished 5th in the table after a strong run under Neil Warnock and have a 9-8-6 away record this season with 27 goals scored and only 19 conceded. Palace have the best away defence in the Championship and only Stoke and Watford lost less games on their travels. Palace had the best defence in the Championship after the 46 league games were completed.
Palace have only lost 2 of their last 13 games although both have come in their last 3 matches. They have only lost 1 of their last 7 away games and have managed to win at Watford and Stoke in that time while also gaining draws at Bristol City and West Brom.
James Scowcroft is out after only managing 6 minutes on Saturday. Matt Lawrence could potentially return in this game after recovering from injury.
HEAD TO HEAD
Palace and Bristol City meet for the 4th time this season Palace won the league encounter at home and drew at Ashton Gate during the regular season.
However, Bristol City won the important 1st leg of this tie at the weekend 1-2.
On the balance of things, Bristol City probably deserved the win, even though the goal came in injury time, but I will expect a much stronger performance from Palace in this leg.
PREDICTION :
Bristol City have struggled for goals this season and this slender lead might make them a little cautious in this match. Palace have one of the stronger away records in the league and will be looking for goals here.
Neil Warnock is used to helping his team in the playoffs and I think this will give Palace a real opportunity to turn things around. The performance from Palace was one of their worst in recent weeks and I dont think we will see that again.
I can see this one going to extra time.
The Pick :
BRISTOL CITY 1-2 CRYSTAL PALACE
