Eng. Championship
2008-05-24 - Hull City vs Bristol City
A Sports Betting Pick by Mike
Championship Play-Off Final
Saturday 24th May 2008 - KO 15:00
Tigers & Robins Battle in £60million Game
On Saturday there is the important business of the Championship play-off final at Wembley, which will decide which of Hull or Bristol City, join Stoke and West Bromich Albion in promotion to next season’s new Premier League.
Saturday’s Championship play-off final is probably the biggest game in either club’s history. At stake is a place in the Premiership, the most financially lucrative league in the world, conservatively valued at a minimum of £60million.
That figure includes a guaranteed slice of the television rights and parachute payments for two years should they come back down.
It wouldn’t be unkind to describe Hull and Bristol City as unfashionable, so the chance to play regularly against the likes of Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea is a tantalising prospect, but will only become a reality for one club.
The bookmakers markets reflect the accepted logic of the play-off scenarios. It is best for punters to ignore where the clubs finished and how they played over the entire season, the real relevancy is in their form right when it counted.
Those teams that take momentum into the play-offs invariably succeed, hence Hull’s favouritism.
The Robins led the Championship for a long time but the realisation of what they were on course to achieve seemed to negatively affect Gary Johnson’s side.
Bristol City won just two of their last eleven games, relinquishing an automatic promotion spot.
They came through a tough two-leg semi-final against Crystal Palace, but the Eagles did miss a spot kick 15 minutes from the end of the second leg which would have put them through at the Bristol’s expense.
In contrast Hull powered into the final third of the season, winning six of their last nine games, then destroying Watford 6-1 in their two-leg semi-final.
Bristol City held the upper hand in the clubs’ two league meetings, winning 2-1 at Ashton Gate and drawing the return match 0-0 despite having a player sent off but the momentum is definitely with the Tigers.
It could all come down to who handles the pressure of the occasion best and crucially City have lost all four previous play-off final appearances.
THE VERDICT
I have to go with recent form - and ignore the head-to-head form - and that means taking top qualifiers Hull City to win.
