ENG. CHAMPIONSHIP BETTING PICK - CRYSTAL PALACE V BRIGHTON

Eng. Championship

2013-05-10 - Crystal Palace vs Brighton

A Sports Betting Pick by ArmchairPunter

CRYSTAL PALACE v BRIGHTON
Football – England – Championship Play-Off Semi Final 1st Leg
Friday 10th May 2013 – Kickoff: 1945hrs

CRYSTAL PALACE

Crystal Palace and Brighton do battle in the second of the play-off semi finals where the first leg will be played at Selhurst Park on Friday night as the hosts look to gain an early advantage going into the second leg.

It seems an obvious statement but this tie really does throw up an encounter of two legs with both teams possessing strong home records but their away form has been less convincing. It’s Palace’s turn first up as they prepare for the visit of Brighton with The Eagles finishing the regular season with an overall home record of 13-8-2 52/31 and despite this record appearing impressive on paper, they’ll no doubt be keen to recapture their earlier season form at Selhurst Park as they won just once in their last five matches on home soil.

Draws against Leeds United, Barnsley and Leicester City along with a heavy 0-4 defeat to Birmingham City was not what they were looking for in the final weeks of the season and it cost them an automatic promotion berth up to the Premiership as they finished seven points adrift of eventual runners-up Hull City. However, Palace did secure a last-day win at home to Peterborough United winning 3-2 which secured their play-off place.

BRIGHTON

Brighton have the seemingly potential advantage of hosting Crystal Palace in the second leg but for this to actually eventuate, they need to do a job in south-east London at a venue where not many teams have been successful. However, Brighton’s form going into this crucial phase has been good; unbeaten in their last nine matches of the regular season which included wins at Brighton 3-0, Middlesbrough, a 6-1 dismantling of Blackpool, Leeds United and Wolves.

Brighton’s away form though finished as one of the weaker records which was 8-9-6 30/26 but they lost just twice in their last eight away matches with defeats at Bolton and Barnsley, but wins at Middlesbrough and Leeds United to round things off.

Putting the form of both teams aside for a moment, take into consideration the fact that this will be Wilfred Zaha’s last home match for Crystal Palace before he leaves for Manchester United at the end of the season, and also don’t forget that Palace boss Ian Holloway has prior play-off experience when he guided former club Blackpool through the play-offs into the Premiership.

THE BETTING VERDICT:

It is sure to be a charged up atmosphere at Selhurst Park on Friday as the hosts will be eager to take a lead into the second leg, and I’ll back Crystal Palace with the round ball here with home advantage behind them. A narrow 1-0 win for Palace could be the possible scoreline.

The Pick :