Eagles to keep on flying at fortress Selhurst

 

Mike Norman recommends three bets from a full programme of midweek Championship football, including another win for Crystal Palace in their top-of-the-table clash with  Hull City...

 

Crystal Palace 2.3 v Hull 3.6; The Draw 3.4

 

Crystal Palace last lost at Selhurst Park in the middle of August, to a team - Watford - who have gone on to prove to be arguably the best away side in the  Championship.

 

Seven months and 17 games later Palace continue to avoid defeat in front of their own fans. Even when they went through a rough patch a few months ago they were sill a  reliable outfit on home soil, and now they go in search of their fourth consecutive home win against a Hull side that have won just one of their last five on the road  and were thrashed 4-1 at Bolton last time.

 

True, the Tigers recorded an emphatic home victory on Saturday but that is typical of their form this season - three wins, three games without a win, win, loss, win,  loss etc - they simply can't string a sustained run together without suffering a defeat every three or four games.

 

Credit to Steve Bruce's men then that they are currently in an automatic promotion slot, but a worrying stat for me is that Hull have lost seven times already this  term to clubs in the top half of the table, most of those coming away from home.

 

Ian Holloway's men however thrive in the big clashes, recording wins over Cardiff, Leicester and Middlesbrough this season, and their amazing home record gives them a  huge chance of recording another crucial victory on Tuesday night.

 

Recommended Bet: Back Crystal Palace to win @ 2.3 (best bet)

 

 

Cardiff 1.74 v Derby 5.5; The Draw 4.0

 

My advice to back Cardiff on Tuesday night comes with a huge warning. I recommended The Bluebirds against Ipswich (home), Huddersfield (away) and Brighton (home)  recently, and they failed to win any of those games. I was at the Riverside on Saturday afternoon and guess who I backed? Yes, Cardiff!

 

For a team that are leading the Championship by a decent margin not to win any of those games is just plain bad luck on my part, especially when you consider where  Ipswich and Huddersfield are in the table, Middlesbrough have been in awful form lately, and the fact that Cardiff hit the woodwork four times against Brighton.

 

We can all curse our bad luck but I certainly don't let it influence my wagers. I'm not going to desert Cardiff simply because they haven't done me any favours  previously, and against Derby on Tuesday night they really ought to record a victory.

 

The Rams are winless in their last six league games and you have to go back to mid-December to find the last time they won on the road. Nigel Clough's men have lost to  high-flyers Leicester, Hull, Crystal Palace and Watford recently and with Cardiff being such a strong outfit on home soil (when I don't back them that is) I envisage a  comfortable home victory.

 

Malky Mackay's men have led at half time in 13 of their 23 victories this term, and that percentage is good enough for me to back them in the Half Time/Full Time  market this time.

 

Recommended Bet: Back Cardiff HT/Cardiff FT @ 2.74

 

 

Nottingham Forest 1.95 v Ipswich 4.4; The Draw 3.8

 

It's very rare that I back at odds-on in this division but such is the resurgence of Nottm Forest under Billy Davies that we simply must climb aboard - and after all,  they are only marginally odds-on to win this game when we could easily have expected them to be around the 1.7 mark.

 

Forest are unbeaten in four, winning their last three and scoring 10 goals in the process. True, they've been beating teams in the bottom half of the table but that's  exactly where Ipswich are, and the Tractor Boys haven't exactly been brilliant on the road in 2013.

 

Mick McCarthy's men haven't won any of their five league and cup games away from home this year, and from their last four away trips in the league they have managed  just a solitary goal - and none of their opponents were at the same level of form that Forest are currently.

 

I'm not exactly rushing to back the home side at odds-on, but they are a bigger price than I expected them to be, and their current form entitles them to beat an out- of-form away side.

 

Recommended Bet: Back Nottm Forest to win @ 1.95

 

Bet HERE

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