With the normal season over for EFL Championship, it is now time for the promotion playoffs. Promotion to the Premier League is a critical part of the English football system that sees 3 teams from the EFL Championship (2nd division of English football) go up into the premier league. Norwich City and Watford have been automatically promoted to the Premier League as they finished 1st and 2nd in the Championship respectively. The teams who have finished in 3rd to 6th positions in the table enter playoffs to determine which team will be promoted alongside the top 2 teams.
Here is a preview of the upcoming Championship Playoffs:
Brentford (3rd Position)
Brentford finished the season with 87 points in total, just 4 points behind the automatic promotion places. Last season, it was play-off heartbreak for Brentford against Fulham at Wembley and, once again, they failed to capitalise on a strong position by losing form at the wrong time.
The Bees were sitting pretty at the top of the table in the middle of February but they then lost their next three games in a row to hand the advantage over to their rivals. Thomas Frank’s men are now on a nine-game unbeaten run, however, they have won just three of those games.
The bees have the league’s top scorer, Ivan Toney, in their team who has netted 29 times for the Bees but just one goal in his last six games means his form has dipped as of late.
Swansea City (4th Position)
Last season, Swansea sneaked into the playoffs last season only to miss out on Brentford in the semi-finals. Steve Cooper’s men saw their top-two hopes fade in March when they embarked on a terrible run of four successive losses, with no goals scored in any of them, however, they are recovering.
A lack of firepower is likely to be the primary concern for the Welsh side as they are the lowest-scoring side in the top six. With Swansea ending their third season since being relegated from the Premier League, their parachute payments will dry up if they miss out on promotion again.
Former England Under-17 coach Steve Cooper is sure to be in demand regardless of how the playoffs end for Swansea.
Barnsley (5th Position)
Barnsley barely survived in the league last season after a last-minute winner against the Brentford on the final day ensured they remain in the second-tier of English football. The Tykes have not experienced life in the Premier League since 1997-98 and they are likely to be the favourite of many neutrals in the 2021 Championship play-offs due to their comparatively tiny budget and underdog status.
Few people expected Barnsley to be in the mix for promotion when their boss Gerhard Struber left to join MLS side New York Red Bulls last October. Valerien Ismael was brought in as the head coach after Struber’s surprise departure and the hard-pressing tactics the Frenchman has continued have had a major impact on the Championship.
The January capture of American forward Daryl Dike has been key to Barnsley’s success, with the 20-year-old having hit nine goals in his 17 appearances since making the move to Yorkshire.
AFC Bournemouth (6th Position)
Bournemouth are hoping to join Norwich and Watford in returning straight back to the Premier League. The team had to cope with the loss of their long-serving manager, Eddie Howe’s departure. If the Cherries can complete the set by triumphing in the 2021 Championship play-offs, it will be the first time that each of the relegated trios has then earned promotion in the following season.
Bournemouth initially put Howe’s assistant Jason Tindall in charge but he was replaced by Jonathan Woodgate in February as their promotion charge began to stutter. A recent run of seven straight wins built up momentum at Dean Court but defensive issues remain for Bournemouth, who have only kept two clean sheets in the past two months.
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