Home and Away: Palace cracking value to spring a surprise on south coast

13May 2013

Betfair

Jonno Turner looks at a domestic semi-final and action in Turkey as he aims to kick start the week with two winners...

We're off to Turkey for our first selection of the week - as Bursaspor host Eskisehirspor at the Bursa Ataturk Stadium, looking to extend the recent form which has seen them unbeaten in six of their last seven Super Lig games.

That leaves the Yesil Timsahlar sitting fourth in the division, five points of third place but with a game in hand - and they will be keen to maintain that form in this clash.

Boss Hikmet Karaman has seen his side unbeaten in their last four home outings, and three clean sheets from half a dozen in front of their own fans is the kind of defensive form that he will be looking for his side to replicate here.

A 4-2 victory away at Orduspor last time out will have boosted confidence in the Bursa club, and, with just two encounters remaining, a win here will keep the hosts within touching distance of third place.

Visitors Eskisehirspor travel to the north west occupying 11th place in the table - and that is largely down to some inconsistent form this campaign.

Seven without a win from their last nine shows why Ersun Yanal's side find themselves in that underwhelming league position, and, without a clean sheet since March, he will be looking to shore up his defence over the summer.

Just one victory from four on the road suggests that the Red Lightnings are susceptible to travel sickness away from the Ataturk Stadyumu, and that indicates that they may struggle against a Bursa side which is full of momentum and vigour at the moment.

The hosts have lost just one of their last four meetings with Eskisehirspor, winning two and drawing two, and I fancy them to maintain that positive return here.

Bet 1: Bursaspor (HOME) @ 1.61

Back to more familiar climes now, as Brighton welcome Crystal Palace to the Amex Stadium in the second leg of their Championship play-off semi final.

The Seagulls are seemingly in pole position for this clash, with home advantage and following a 0-0 stalemate in the first tie between these two sides - but I reckon that Palace are priced far too generously for the win here.

Gus Poyet's Brighton side go into this one unbeaten in nine outings on their own patch, and will be confident of booking their place in the Wembley final - but after a dominant start in the first leg, they faded quickly, and Palace had a couple of penalty shouts which could have put the fixture to bed.

The hosts will be desperate not to let that happen again, but will once again be without Bruno Saltor, Craig Mackail-Smith and Will Hoskins, who are all big misses for the south coast side.

Ian Holloway takes his Eagles charges to the seaside with no pressure - and it appears that many have written them off before this clash has even begun.

Top scorer Glenn Murray will be absent through injury - and there's no denying that he will be a miss in the final third - but Palace are unbeaten in five, and are notorious for their effective counter-attacking football.

And two clean sheets from their last three suggests that the away side are more than capable of grinding out an historic win here.

Brighton beat the Eagles 3-0 here in March, and much is being made of the psychological advantage that may provide to them, but let's not forget that Palace beat their hosts 3-0 in South London earlier on in the season, so this one is a lot more even than the odds suggest.

The home side are rightly favourites for this clash, but I think that the 5.2 available on Palace is unmissable - especially if they can grab the first goal, bringing Cash Out into play.

Bet 2: Crystal Palace (AWAY) @ 5.2