Carling Cup Semi Final First Leg - Crystal Palace v Cardiff City Odds and Betting Preview

LONDON, UK - The all Championship tie in this season's Carling Cup semi-final kicks off at Selhurst Park as Crystal Palace host Cardiff City with both sides looking to gain an advantage going into the second leg in a fortnight's time. The home side, despite beating Manchester United in the quarter-final, are slight underdogs in this match and can be backed at best odds of 15/8 at Victor Chandler to win the match. Cardiff City are quoted at 8/5 with bet365 and Paddy Power among others. The draw is a top priced 23/10 shot with Betfred and Skybet.

Crystal Palace have not reached a major domestic final since the famous FA Cup final against Manchester United in the 1989-90 season that went to a replay. Having beaten United in the last round the Eagles have their best chance in a long time of making a Wembley final but it will not be an easy tie against high-flying Cardiff City.

The Welsh side are currently third in the Championship and promotion to the Premier League is their priority for the season. The Carling Cup has proved a welcome distraction for Cardiff as they showed their quality with a comfortable 2-0 win over Blackburn Rovers in the quarter finals. The lure of Wembley and European football will be enough the get both sets of fans up for the match.

Cardiff City have been scoring goals for fun this season, while Palace have struggled to find the back of the net; relying on their solid defence to pick up some good results. The over/under betting suggests that the bookmakers feel it will be a low scoring first leg as under 2.5 is a top priced 4/6 shot at Skybet and Stan James, with over 2.5 quoted at best odds of 6/5 at Ladbrokes and Victor Chandler.

Scotland international striker Kenny Miller is favourite to open the scoring in the match and can be backed at best odds of 6/1 with William Hill and Betfred to give Cardiff City the lead. His likely strike partner Rob Earnshaw is available at 7/1 at Ladbrokes. Wilfried Zaha is Crystal Palace's top scorer in the Carling Cup and is quoted at best odds of 8/1 with Blue Square and Totesport to hit the back of the net first.

The half-time/full-time market sees Crystal Palace/Crystal Palace quoted at best odds of 4/1 with Coral and Betinternet, whilst draw/Crystal Palace is a best priced 11/2 chance at Paddy Power and 888 Sport. Cardiff City can be backed at best odds of 7/2 at Ladbrokes and Betfred to win the match after leading at the break, with draw/Cardiff City available at best odds of 5/1 at bet365 and Paddy Power.

Crystal Palace are top priced at 5/4 with William Hill to qualify for the Final after both legs are completed, with Cardiff City quoted at best odds of 4/6 at bet365 to qualify from the tie.

The match kicks off at 2000 GMT on December 10th and is live on Sky Sports 1HD

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