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Rarely will you see two Championship sides go head to head in the semi-final of a major tournament, but this year, Crystal Palace take on Cardiff in the Carling Cup at that very stage.
Palace caused the upset of the tournament so far when they knocked out last season’s Premier League Champions, Manchester United in the last round, while Cardiff created their own shock by dismissing Blackburn.
It means that the chances of a Championship side playing in the Europa League next season is more than probable, with both Manchester City and Liverpool likely to gain European qualification through the league anyway.
Cardiff themselves are not unfamiliar with being in the semi-final of a major competition, having beaten Barnsley at the same stage of the FA Cup as recently as 2008.
Crystal Palace, meanwhile, will be looking to reach their first cup final since the 1990 FA Cup, when they were eventually beaten by Manchester United in a Wembley replay.
Whatever the outcome, however, one thing is for sure: there will be a second tier side in the final of the Carling Cup for the first time since 2001, when Birmingham lost to Liverpool on penalties.
Overall, this is a fixture that Palace have historically had the upper hand in, winning 28, drawing 19 and losing just 13.
Match Winner
Despite that record, Cardiff go into this game as favourites, due mainly to the fact that they are eight places above Palace in the Championship this season.
Bet365 are offering odds of 5/4 that the Welsh club will win the first leg, which is due to be played at Palace’s Selhurst Park.
Crystal Palace are priced at 9/4 with SkyBet to pick up a win in this fixture, while the draw is also 9/4 with Bet365.
First Goal Scorer
Kenny Miller is the 6/1 favourite with Totesport to be the game’s first goal scorer, while his Cardiff colleague Robert Earnshaw can be backed at the same odds with many other bookmakers.
Darren Ambrose has scored three goals in his last three Carling Cup matches, and would be a tempting bet to net first at odds of 10/1 with VC Bet.
Recommended Bets
The 1-1 draw is one of the favourite score lines with bookies for this game. Bet365 are offering 5/1 for that to be how things stand after the first 90 minutes.
When these two sides met back in November, Cardiff ran out 2-0 winners, so a repeat of that score does not seem unlikely. Ladbrokes will give you 12/1 on the Bluebirds achieving that.
How about Cardiff taking the lead, only for the home crowd to spark a second half come back for Palace to win? For that to happen, Betfair will offer you no less than 41/1.
May 2nd, 2012 at 1:23 am
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