Sports Blog 24/05/2016: Championship Play-Off Final Preview – Hull vs Sheffield Wednesday, Saturday 28th May 2016

The football season is almost at an end, with fans turning one eye to Euro 2016. First, however, the Premier League needs to find out its latest addition, with Hull and Sheffield Wednesday battling it out in the Championship play-off final on Saturday.

Perhaps the most unlikely team in the final is Sheffield Wednesday. Having finished 15 points below 2nd place Middlesbrough (and 3rd place Brighton) the odds were stacked against the Owls heading into their 1st leg. Yet they brushed past the Seagulls at Hillsborough, with goals from Ross Wallace and Kieran Lee giving Carlos Carvalhal’s side a healthy 2-0 advantage to take to the Falmer Stadium. An opener from Lewis Dunk briefly gave the home side hope in the 2nd leg, only for Wallace to effectively seal the deal, and break more than a few Brighton hearts, 10 minutes later.



If Sheffield Wednesday were arguably lucky to sneak into the final following their mixed league form, then Hull will feel somewhat aggrieved that they didn’t nab an automatic play-off spot in the first place. Finishing 6 points behind Boro in 2nd, Hull had actually spent a decent chunk of the time at the start of the New Year in 1st place, only for a March-collapse to put them on the back foot.

Their play-off semi-final was almost a microcosm of their season as a whole. Facing Derby at the iPro Stadium Hull romped to a 3-0 victory, with an own-goal from Jason Shackell sandwiched between strikes from Abel Hernandez (his 22nd of the season) and Andrew Robertson. Yet the Tigers nearly threw the whole thing away in the 2nd leg; a 7th minute opener from Johnny Russell and an own-goal from Robertson left Derby a hair’s breadth away from forcing extra time, only for Hull to hold on until the final whistle.

It will be an amazing turnaround for Steve Bruce’s if he can lead his side back to the Premier League on the first time of asking. Wednesday, meanwhile, haven’t been in the top flight since 1999/2000, yet unexpectedly find themselves one game away from securing one of the biggest pay-outs in world football. From our traders' perspective it looks like a close call, with the advantage going to the Tigers at a Hull/Sheffield Wednesday Goal Supremacy spread of 0.2-04 with a Total Goals spread of 2.15-2.35.

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