This is one of two English Football Championship playoff semifinal matches set for Saturday. At Villa Park, Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion contest the first leg of their semifinal. In this preview, however, we’ll cover the other half of the semifinal bracket as Leeds United takes on Derby County at Pride Park. The second leg in both semifinal sets will be at the opposing team’s home venue on Tuesday. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, a quick refresher course on the significance of these matchups. The Football Championship is the second tier of English football. It’s something like the Triple A minor leagues in North American baseball. The three teams at the bottom of the Premier League table–this year they’re Cardiff City, Fulham and Huddersfield Town–are relegated down to the Football Championship. The teams at the bottom of the Football Championship table–this year it’s Rotherham United, Bolton Wanderers and Ipswich Town–are sent down to League One. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
League to league movement also happens at the top of the table in the three levels of the English Football League. The top teams in League Two and League One all move up a level. In The Football Championship, the top two teams are promoted directly to the Premiership and this year sees Norwich City and Sheffield United sent up. The final promotion spot is earned via a playoff between the third through six place teams. This semifinal is between third place Leeds United and sixth place Derby County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Derby County is hoping to break the decade long run of bad fortune experienced by the sixth place finisher in this playoff. They definitely had to fight to get here–it took a win over West Brom on the final day of the regular season to earn the berth. Now they must begin another fight and history isn’t in their favor. The last sixth place Football Championship finisher to earn promotion was Blackpool in 2010. The last sixth place finisher to make the finals was Sheffield Wednesday in 2016 but they were defeated by Hull City for the right to join the Premier League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Derby County finished nine points back of Leeds United but that could be less significant than the recent form of both sides. Derby county has lost only one of their last twelve contests and won 4 of their last 6. They have also won 4 straight at home scoring two or more goals in each victory. They were a strong side at home all season long finishing with a 13-7-3 record scoring 40 goals and conceding just 20. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leeds United was a strong traveling squad this year and came very close to securing automatic promotion. A poor run to end the season forced them to settle for third place where it is little consolation that two of the last four teams to enter the playoff in this spot ended up being promoted. Leeds United lack of momentum could be a serious issue in this semifinal. They are winless in their last four league games losing three and drawing one. They had the same result in their last four away games. There is also concern that manager Marcelo Bielsa will seek opportunities elsewhere after this season is over–and particularly if they fall short of promotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Form is crucial in sports betting and the soccer odds<\/a> for this contest might not reflect this important component of the handicap. Look for Derby to get the victory in the first leg in a game that goes ‘Over’ the total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n