West London rivals Brentford and Fulham face each other in the Championship play-off final on Tuesday night. The match is often dubbed as the most expensive game in association football and one of the sides will get the opportunity to play in next season’s Premier League.
Brentford appeared in pole position to secure the second automatic promotion earlier last month after notching up eight victories on the bounce. However, they failed to win their final two games of the season and that enabled West Bromwich Albion to take the spot with a two-point lead. Slaven Bilic’s side were promoted despite going winless in the final four games of the campaign.
Fulham, on the other hand, were always playing catch-up for the automatic promotion places and they eventually ended fourth on the table behind Brentford by virtue of goal difference. Steve Parker’s side had an outside chance of leapfrogging the Baggies on the final matchday of the regular season, but they were unable to do so.
Play-off results:
Brentford suffered a third-straight 1-0 loss during the first leg of their semi-final clash at Swansea City. They managed to redeem themselves with a strong second leg display as they won 3-1 in their last ever game at Griffin Park. The Bees will be contesting their maiden Championship final.
Fulham, on the other hand, outclassed Cardiff City in the opening leg on the road by a 2-0 score. At Craven Cottage, it was a much open-sided affair, which the Bluebirds won 2-1. That was not sufficient for Neil Harris’ side. The Cottagers reached their second play-off final in three seasons with a 3-2 aggregate win.
Players to watch out for:
Ollie Watkins – Brentford: The Bees have relied on the frontline of BMW consisting of Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins, who have netted a combined tally of 59 goals. Among the trio, Watkins has been the standout scorer with 26 goals to his name. The 24-year-old has grown the knack of scoring early for Thomas Frank’s side and he set the pace during the impressive home display against the Swans last week.
Aleksandar Mitrovic – Fulham: The Serbian was a huge miss for the Cottagers in the play-off semi-final, but they managed to progress with Neeskens Kebano starring with two goals. Parker remains hopeful that Mitrovic will overcome his hamstring injury and his presence could make or break their promotion bid on Tuesday night. Similarly to Watkins, he has netted 26 times this season. There is, however, a stark difference with no one else in the squad reaching double figures in terms of scoring.
Prediction:
Brentford have an extraordinary record against Fulham since the promotion to the Championship in 2014. In the past 10 meetings, they have won six, drawn three and suffered just one defeat. They did the double over their cross-town rivals this term without conceding and should be the favourites to clinch promotion, particularly if Mitrovic is not 100 percent fit. We are fancying the Bees to return to the top-flight after a 73-year hiatus.
Brentford 3-1 Fulham
Stats from Transfermarkt.com
