This coming weekend is one of the most exciting and important in the football season. The three Football League Playoff Finals will decide who takes their place in the Premier League, the Championship and League One next season, with the losers resigned to remaining in their current division for another season.
The action begins on Saturday with the League Two match up between Newport County and Tranmere Rovers, followed by Sunday’s game from League One between Charlton and Sunderland in what is a repeat of the dramatic 1998 Playoff Final between the two. Finally, it is the £170 million game for a place in the Premier League as Aston Villa and Derby County complete what should be an amazing three days of football.
If you fancy a flutter on any of the big games at Wembley this weekend, then head on over to bet365 Sport. New customers can join with the current bet365 Sport New Customer promotion which offers you a great deal when you sign up. With In Play betting and Live Streaming of thousands of sports events each week, you’ll always have plenty of choice of what to bet on throughout the year at bet365 Sport.
Let’s now preview each game before giving you our tips on each.
Saturday 25th May – League Two Playoff
Newport County v Tranmere Rovers
League Performance
- Tranmere Rovers – 6th – 73 Points, 63 Goals Scored, 50 Conceded (+13)
- Newport County – 7th – 71 Points, 59 Goals Scored, 59 Conceded (0)
Playoff Semi Final Results
- 1st Leg – Tranmere Rovers 1-0 Forest Green, Newport County 1-1 Mansfield Town
- 2nd Leg – Forest Green 1-1 Tranmere Rovers, Mansfield Town 0-0 Newport County (Newport win 5-3 on penalties)
Head to Head This Season
- 22nd September 2018 – Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Newport County
- 6th April 2019 – Newport County 0-0 Tranmere Rovers
Head to Head Historic
- Played – 26
- Tranmere Wins – 10
- Draws – 7
- Newport Wins – 9
Tranmere’s last win over Newport County came way back in 1988 in Division Four. Since then they have met four times, Newport winning once and the other three games ending in draws.
Newport County Probable Team Selection – (4-3-3) – Day, Poole, Butler, Demetriou, O’Bien, Bennett, Sheehan, Labadie, Amond, Matt, Wilmott
Tranmere Rovers Probable Team Selection – (4-5-1) – Davies, Caprice, Ridehalgh, Monthe, Nelson, Perkins, Banks, Harris, Morris, Jennings, Norwood
Match Preview and Tips
Despite Newport picking up four points from their games with Tranmere this season, the Welsh side go into this game as the 2/1 underdogs, with Rovers the 29/20 favourites to win. Micky Mellon’s side did go on a fine eight game winning run a while back but recent form has been a tad more erratic, though they were well worthy of winning their semifinal with Forest Green.
Newport came through a tight semifinal with Mansfield on penalties with both sides missing plenty of chances in those games but the Welsh side are known for being strong defensively, however that big Wembley pitch is going to be a test for them against Tranmere’s tricky wide players and the addition of Perkins into midfield has really helped improve Rovers in that area since January.
This will be close, but I feel despite not beating them during the season, Tranmere will just about sneak this one with James Norwood likely to be the main man here. Back Tranmere Rovers to win at 29/20 and you can back Rovers to win 2-1 at 9/1.
Sunday 26th May – League One Playoff
Charlton Athletic v Sunderland
League Performance
- Charlton – 3rd – 88 Points, 73 Goals Scored, 40 Conceded (+33)
- Sunderland – 5th – 85 Poinrts – 80 Goals Scored, 47 Conceded (+33)
Playoff Semi Final Results
- 1st Leg – Sunderland 1-0 Portsmouth, Doncaster 1-2 Charlton Athletic
- 2nd Leg – Portsmouth 0-0 Sunderland, Charlton Athletic 2-3 Doncaster Rovers (Charlton win 4-3 on penalties)
Head to Head This Season
- 4th August 2018 – Sunderland 2-1 Charlton Athletic
- 5th January 2019 – Charlton Athletic 1-1 Sunderland
Head to Head Historic
- Games Played – 78
- Charlton Wins – 29
- Draws – 21
- Sunderland Wins – 28
The teams met in the League Division 1 Playoff Final in May 1998 with the game finishing in an incredible 4-4 draw and Charlton Athletic eventually winning the match 7-6 on penalties.
Charlton Athletic Probable Team Selection – (4-4-2) – Phillips, Dijksteel, Purrington, Bauer, Sarr, Bielik, Morgan, Cullen, Aribo, Parker, Taylor
Sunderland Probable Team Selection – (4-3-3) – McLaughlin, O’Nien, Oviedo, Flanagan, Ozturk, Cattermole, Power, Leadbitter, Honeyman, Maguire, Wyke
Match Preview and Tips
The last time these two teams met in a League One Playoff final it produced a classic game, a 4-4 draw, a hat-trick for Clive Mendonca and a penalties win for Charlton after Michael Gray missed a penalty in sudden death for the Black Cats. If we get anything approaching that excitement on Sunday then this should be a cracker.
In truth that is unlikely. Sunderland’s two games with Portsmouth in the semifinal were turgid affairs to be honest and Charlton, while bright on the road against Doncaster then lost at home and needed penalties to progress into the final.
Both teams have very similar records in the league and both games between the teams were close, although Sunderland did grab four points from those two games and I think that could be an important pointer here.
I can see this being a very tight game and perhaps just one goal being the deciding factor. Many Sunderland fans will recall that game in 1998 and I think that the Black Cats will want revenge for that for their fans. As such, I am backing Sunderland to emerge with the win at 17/10, and you can back a 1-0 Sunderland win at 7/1.
Monday 27th May – Championship Playoff
Aston Villa v Derby County
League Performance
- Aston Villa – 5th – 76 Points, 82 Goals Scored, 61 Conceded (+21)
- Derby County – 6th – 74 Points, 69 Goals Scored, 54 Conceded (+15)
Playoff Semi Final Results
- 1st Legs – Aston Villa 2-1 West Brom, Derby County 0-1 Leeds United
- 2nd Legs – West Brom 1-0 Aston Villa (Villa win 4-3 on penalties), Leeds Utd 2-4 Derby County
Head to Head This Season
- 10th November 2018 – Derby County 0-3 Aston Villa
- 2nd March 2019 – Aston Villa 4-0 Derby County
Head to Head Historic
- Played – 140
- Aston Villa Wins – 71
- Draws – 25
- Derby County Wins – 44
Villa have won six, drawn two and lost just one of the last nine matches between the teams stretching back to January 2002.
Aston Villa Probable Team Selection – (4-3-3) – Steer, Elmohamady, Taylor, Mings, Tuanzebe, Hourihane, McGinn, Grealish, Green, El Ghazi, Abraham
Derby County Probable Team Selection – (4-3-3) – Carson, Bogle, Cole, Keogh, Tomori, Lawrence, Mount, Johnson, Wilson, Waghorn, Marriott
Match Preview and Tips
The final playoff game takes place on Bank Holiday Monday and there is around £170 million in cash at stake when Aston Villa take on Derby County for a place in the Premier League. Dean Smith’s Villa have had much the better of the clashes between the two sides this season, winning 4-0 at home and 3-0 at Pride Park in the league against Frank Lampard’s men but that will count for nothing when the teams run out at Wembley on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon.
After coming back from being 2-0 down away at Leeds in their game, Derby will feel that they have every chance of causing a huge upset against a Villa side who have been in superb form of late with just one loss, to champions Norwich, the only blip in their form over the last few months.
Derby’s form though too has also improved and in fact, both squads have a good mix of youth and experience in them which will make this tie an intriguing one and so difficult to call. Villa have the edge in past meetings, but this Derby team never seems to know when it is beaten.
I can see this one going to extra time, so I would back the draw here at 11/5. And you can get 1-1 at 5/1 at bet365. As for who goes up, it is a coin toss but I would just err in favour of Villa based on their slightly better form over the last few months.
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