Saturday 26th May 1700hrs Aston Villa v Fulham Football – England – Championship Playoff Final The Championship playoff final is one of the most eagerly anticipated games of football in the English calendar. It’s often described as the most expensive game in world football due to the amount of money that is on offer for the winning team as a result of being promoted to the Premier League and all the luxuries that holds. That will clearly be massive consideration for both sets of owners but for both sets of supporters heading to Wembley on Saturday it’s all about winning a game of football, enjoying the celebrations and start planning away trips for the next season. For the players it’s a case of winning the match and getting their rewards for what has been a hugely gruelling campaign. Fulham and Aston Villa have recent experiences of playing in the top flight and will battle it on Saturday to get back there.
Aston Villa are a massive club, steeped in history, who have found themselves out the Premier League for the past two seasons. Relegation back in 2016 was tough to take and it appeared there was little in the way of direction with a host of managers and big turnover in players preceding their drop to the Championship. Steve Bruce was employed and tasked with the job of steering the club back up with the expectation that would happen at the first time of asking. We know that is an incredibly difficult effort and it proved to be beyond Bruce and his Villa players. They flirted with the playoffs for a brief period of time but their season eventually petered out and had to make do with a finishing position of 13th. That was nowhere near acceptable for a club with their budget but they suitably strengthened again with a view to establishing themselves as a leading contender for automatic promotion. A slow start – combined with the excellence of both Wolves and Cardiff – meant they were predominantly adrift and were always likely to have to settle for the playoffs. After 46 games Villa ended in fourth spot with 83 points and faced Middlesbrough in their semi final. It was always going to be a war of attrition against Tony Pulis’ men with similar combative styles. A solitary goal from Mile Jedinak (only his second of the season) was the difference over the two legs and meant Villa are now one game away from achieving their season aim of promotion to the Premier League.
Fulham have been the most consistent teams in the Championship the past two seasons, following up last year’s position of 6th with their third place finish this time around. Both meant they entered the playoffs, of course, but there’s no doubting that the Cottagers would have had sights on finishing in the top two this season. It was a battle between themselves and Cardiff in the last weeks of the season and there were a couple of occasions where it looked like they may have the momentum to finish above the Welsh team. As it was, they dropped five of their last 12 points and had to make do with facing off against Derby in their playoff semi-final. It brought back bad memories of their last experience of the playoffs when they lost to Reading over two legs and when getting beat 1-0 in the first leg against Derby all those painful memories would have come flooding back. To their immense credit, Fulham turned it around at home and won 2-0. It should not be underestimated how difficult it is to recover in these games with so little time in between. Fulham have negotiated the first challenge at putting last year’s demons to rest in the process but they know the job is only half done and will only exercise all their demons – including the ones gained from not going up automatically this season – if they are victorious on Saturday.
Both teams will head to Wembley on Saturday as fresh as they have been for some time with over 10 days since they last played. That’s unusual for any team playing in the Championship and only tends to happen during international breaks when a lot of these players are still representing their country. The two managers will have been using the extended break to freshen players up as much as possible but still ensuring they are at peak levels of fitness for what is to come this weekend. The playoffs are as much about mentality and mindset as anything physical, of course, so neither can afford a drop in intensity.
Aston Villa v Fulham Betting Tip
In many ways it’s worked out best that the third and fourth placed teams have made it into the playoff final as they have been the best two teams, competing in the playoffs, over the course of the 46-game season. The Championship is one of the hardest slogs with teams constantly playing weekend and midweek. There were five points between Villa and Fulham in the regular season and they shared the games between them as well, all of which goes to show there isn’t a huge amount between the teams. Bruce’s men won 2-1 at Villa Park whilst Fulham got their revenge earlier in the year – winning 2-0 at the Cottage. It sets Saturday’s game up, played at a neutral venue, perfectly in what looks like being a really balanced encounter.
Fulham had a slightly better account and Villa conceded more goals but in truth they had near identical campaigns. The winning club stand to gain around £170m but as alluded to above, it’s all about what happens on the Wembley pitch this Saturday and the secret is usually to side with experience. Villa have that in abundance and it can prove the difference against a vibrant Fulham team who despite their consistency have shown at times they can be vulnerably mentally. Led by captain John Terry, Villa can return to the Premier League at the second time of asking – and they can do it in the 90 minutes.
Aston Villa 5/2 @ Bet Victor
