Big Saturday Multiple: Palace to pile pressure on top three

9Mar 2013

Betfair

Jonno Turner selects three sides to kick start the weekend in style, in his Big Saturday Multiple.

We're off to the Midlands for our first pick of this three team multiple - and Nottingham Forest host Wolves at the City Ground, looking to notch their fifth consecutive league win.

Billy Davies' return to the Tricky Trees helm has seen the home side undergo something of a resurgence - and confidence will be high in the hosts' camp following 10 goals scored in four games, and three clean sheets on the bounce.

That impressive run has lifted Davies' side into seventh place in the Championship table - just two points behind sixth placed Brighton - and they will be desperate to notch another three points here in order to pile the pressure onto the Seagulls.

Just one loss from eight league outings in front of their own fans suggests that Forest are more than capable of grinding out a result in this one - and Davies has no new injury worries, as he welcomes back towering defender Greg Halford into the frame.

Simon Cox and Dexter Blackstock look set to retain their places up front, and the home side will be aiming to provide them with enough ammo to punish a visiting defence which has kept just two clean sheets in eight outings.

Former Forest man Dean Saunders has struggled since taking over at Molineux - and his side recorded their first win under his stewardship at Millwall on Tuesday, at the 10th attempt.

That has left the Wanderers still hovering dangerously close to the drop zone, just one point ahead of Barnsley who occupy the final relegation place, but having played one game more.

Just one win from seven on the road suggests that Wolves tend to struggle from bouts of travel sickness, and their last two trips to the Midlands, to face Leicester City and Derby County, resulted in a loss and a 0-0 draw.

The last time these two sides met, Forest ran out 2-1 winners - and I fancy their momentum to bring them out on top here.

Bet 1: Nottingham Forest @ 1.75

Staying in the Championship now, but heading down to the capital - as Crystal Palace welcome Leeds United to Selhurst Park.

The Eagles are flying of late, and go into this clash having lost just one of their last seven - and unbeaten in a whopping 18 outings on their own patch.

That form has propelled Ian Holloway's side into fourth place in the table, and they are just two points off second with 10 games left to play.

Palace will be well aware that they need to make their home games count if they are to keep up the pressure on the top three, and they will have earmarked this tie as a must win, against a Leeds side who still harbour play-off ambitions despite sitting 10th in the division.

The hosts have smashed 12 goals in four games at Selhurst Park, and a 4-2 defeat of high-flying Hull City on Tuesday underlines just how impressive they have been of late.

Neil Warnock takes his Leeds side down the M1 having won just one game in 14 on the road - a miserable run which stretches back to October.

That disastrous form away from Elland Road has played a major part in Leeds' struggle to affect the Championship play-off picture - and they now sit six points behind Brighton, who fill the final place of the top six.

The West Yorkshire side have kept just one clean sheet on the road since March 2012, and that suggests that free-scoring Palace will be presented with a chance or two here.

Leeds haven't won at Palace in three encounters, and I can't see that changing today.

Bet 2: Crystal Palace @ 1.85

Dropping to the fourth tier for our final selection, and it's a relegation six pointer, as AFC Wimbledon welcome York City to Kingsmeadow.

New York boss Nigel Worthington oversees his first game at the Bootham Crescent helm - and has already laid down the law to his under-performing players.

But actually, the Minstermen's last couple of away trips have seen them perform well, and draws at Oxford United, Rotherham, Gillingham, Cheltenham and Fleetwood in their last half a dozen games on the road aren't to be sniffed at.

That suggests that the basis of a good side is there for Worthington to work with, and confidence will be high in the away camp as they look to kick on for the rest of the season.

AFC Wimbledon go into this clash with just two wins from their last 10 - and that lack of cutting edge is largely to blame for them propping up the rest of the division.

But Neal Ardley's side have kept a mere two clean sheets since the start of November, and incredibly, no clean sheets at home since the first day of the season - which suggests that York are likely to have chances this afternoon.

A 2-1 loss at Cheltenham last weekend may have knocked confidence in the home camp, but the hosts really need to start winning again so as not to get cut away from the rest of the pack down at the bottom.

Unfortunately, I don't think that those three points will come today. In what is bound to be a tight encounter, I fancy York's solid away form - and a sprinkle of new manager syndrome - to see them through.

Bet 3: York City @ 2.87