Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday lock horns in the final of the English Championship Play-off 2016 at the Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday evening.
Hull City rushed to a 3-0 away win over Derby in the first leg of semifinals, but they had to withstand heavy pressure in the second leg after suffering a 2-0 defeat in front of their home crowd. Sheffield Wednesday on the other hand, remain unbeaten in their semifinal fixture against Brighton and Hove Albion after winning the first leg 2-0 and drawing the return leg 1-1.
Both teams have everything to play for in this final fixture of the season at Wembley and one team can progress to the English Premier League next season. There is also an estimated £200m prize money up for grabs for the winners of Saturday night.
Hull City: Team News
Hull City goalkeeper Allan McGregor missed both legs of the semifinal fixture against Derby with a back problem. He remains a doubt and Eldin Jakupovic is expected to continue in goal once again.
Nick Powell is sidelined due to injury and Steve Bruce has no other concerns and is expected to start with the same line-up he used against the Rams.
Hull City: Expected Starting Line-up (4-4-1-1)
McGregor – Odubajo, Dawson, Davies, Robertson – Elmohamady, Livermore, Huddlestone, Snodgrass – Diame – Hernandez.
Sheffield Wednesday: Team News
Modou Sougou and Joe Bennett remains sidelined through injury for The Owls. Carlos Carvalhal is expected to make no changes to the side that helped them beat Brighton in the semifinals.
Sheffield Wednesday: Expected Starting Line-up (4-4-1-1)
Westwood – Hunt, Lees, Loovens, Pudil – Lee, Lopez, Bannan, Wallace – Forestieri – Hooper.
Hull City vs Sheffield Wednesday: Head to Head
- The teams had met on 14 occasions in all competitions so far, with Hull City winning 6 and drawing 5, while Sheffield won 3.
- The last three meetings between the sides ended in draws and Sheffield can boast of a four match unbeaten run against Hull City.
- Seven of the last eight matches between these two sides have seen under 2.5 goals.
Hull City vs Sheffield Wednesday: Prediction
Hull City are surely Premier League quality, but they had once again shown their weakness in the second leg defeat at home against Derby. The Tigers have plenty of match winners at their disposal and it is really up to them to live up to the big occasion on Saturday night.
Carlos Carvalhal deserve every credit in transforming this Sheffield Wednesday side to title challenging team. And they looked strong in both legs of the play-off. Looking at the form and consistency, they are a better side and with the likes of Wallace, Forestieri and Hooper upfront, they can beat the odds.
This will be an exciting and crushing final, with both teams eyeing promotion to the English Premier League and the £200 million prize money. And there is little to choose between the sides on paper, but Hull City have the experience of having played at Wembley before and they are expected to edge this in added extra time.
Full Time Score Prediction after 90 minutes: 1-1.
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