The game dubbed ‘The Richest Match in Football’ takes place at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon when Brentford take on Swansea City in the Sky Bet Championship play-off final with the reward to the winners the final place in the Premier League next season.
Plenty of riches come with winning this match which often makes for a tight, tense and nervy affair on a day which is not one to be the losers on. Both teams have played 48 matches to get this far but their season comes down to this 90 minutes.
Where to watch
The match will be shown in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football channels with the build up to the action beginning at 2pm with the final itself kicking off at 3pm.
Brentford
There isn’t a Brentford fan in the world that will need me to remind them of their horrendous record in the play-offs. They are 0/9 so far and while they are not all finals, things hurt even more when it comes to the final and memories of last year’s loss to Fulham when within touching distance of the Premier League is probably still pretty raw in the mind. It goes without saying that for Brentford to have any chance here the players can’t be feeling that way.
You do sense things are different this year. Brentford came from 2-0 down in the semi-final against Bournemouth to make it to this final and there was a clear determination to not let anything get the better of them. They go into this match as the favourites for a number of reasons really. They have been flying high in the Championship for a while, have a leading marksman in Ivan Toney and their style of football should suit Wembley. You sense it is now all about how they handle the occasion.
Swansea City
This is the second year in succession that Swansea City have been involved in the end of season shootout and unlike last year they have made it to the final. Fans of the Welsh outfit will not need reminding that it was Brentford who denied them in the semi-final last season so while revenge will be the aim, there will undoubtedly be extra nerves among them knowing that. Once again the players will need to use that energy in the correct way if they are to make it back to the Premier League.
Swansea aren’t the most free scoring side in the world so you get the feeling if they are going to win this final it will need to be a low scoring one. That means they will need to start well and keep Brentford tamed early as if they fall behind they aren’t really set up to come from behind, especially in a match of this magnitude where Brentford will just sit in. On the flip side of that, the longer this game is level and Swansea can allow the Brentford nerves to fester, the better their chances are.
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Team News
Brentford remain without Rico Henry and Josh Dasilva who have been out for a while. Christian Dalsgaard pulled out of the semi-final second leg in the warm up and Thomas Frank is keeping his cards close to his chest over his availability.
Swansea City will be without Jordan Morris once again. His stay in Wales may have ended with his long-term injury. Steve Cooper will need to decide whether to continue with Kyle Naughton or bring in the more attack minded Connor Roberts at right-back. Wayne Routledge is out.
Betting
I backed Brentford before a ball was kicked in these play-offs and I still expect them to be the ones to win promotion so I’m on them at 6/4 to progress out of this final in some form. Anyone who isn’t on Brentford already I wouldn’t put them off getting involved here but I’ve no need to back them again so I’m going to look at the side markets for a punt on this final, with the one which takes my fancy being the goals one.
The goal line for this final is at 2 which might seem low but we should acknowledge that in the last decade this has been a pretty low scoring match, which probably isn’t a surprise given everything that is on the contest. I’m not sure this will follow that trend though because it just isn’t the right way for Brentford to go about this final to get involved in a tight and nervy affair. They need to take the final by the horns and go after it. That might bring Swansea more into the game but Brentford were so timid against Fulham last year I really don’t see them making that mistake again. That might well make for a more open final than many expect so I’m happy to be on that over.
Tips
PUSH – Back Over 2 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.89 with BetVictor
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