Aston Villa and Derby County set to battle for the final Premier League spot in play-off final

Derby County and Aston Villa will face each other in the Championship play-off final with a chance to go back to the top-flight of English Football.

The Villans will be looking to get back into the promise land after being relegated two years ago following an awful campaign which saw them finish 20th in the Premier League. Villa will want to get promoted this year as they narrowly missed out on promotion last time around, getting beat in the final by now Premier League relegated Fulham.

Following an impressive 13 game unbeaten run at the end of the season, Villa finished in fifth place in the Championship.

Aston Villa faced midlands rivals West Brom in the semi-final of the play-offs. In the first-leg, Villa narrowly beat West Brom 2-1 with goals from Conor Hourihane and Tammy Abraham cancelling out Dwight Gayle’s early goal for the Baggies. In the second-leg at the Hawthorns, Craig Dawson equalised the 2-2 aggregate score with the game ultimately going down to penalties where Villa narrowly beat West Brom 4-3.

Meanwhile after an impressive season under manager Frank Lampard, the Rams finished in the last play-off position.

The Midlands club had a tough task ahead as they faced Leeds United in their semi-final of the play-offs. The first-leg, Leeds narrowly won 1-0 with Kemar Roofe scoring the only game in that tie. The second-leg followed which saw Derby overturn the deficit with a 4-2 win and a 4-3 win on aggregate. A double from substitute Jack Marriott, a goal from Mason Mount and a penalty scored by Harry Wilson completed the seemingly impossible after two goals from Scott Dallas made everyone believe it will go to extra-time.

Key Men:

Derby County’s prolific goalscorer Harry Wilson, will be looking to make a statement by gaining promotion with Derby which may see him included in the Liverpool set-up after he returns from his loan spell at Derby. With the Welshmen being the top goalscorer for Derby this season and will look to be on target in the final.

For the Villans, captain Jack Grealish has had a phenomenal season for the Claret and Blues scoring in big games like the derby against Birmingham in March with the Englishman scoring six goals and recording seven assists in this Championship season.

From the dug-outs:

Frank Lampard spoke about the game being very important in the club’s history and about the youngsters being up for the task ahead.

He said:

“I’m not too concerned [about the young players], because I have seen huge personality. I expect them to take on the challenge.

“The boys have worked hard and we feel the buzz [around the city]. Me and some of the staff went for a run yesterday, and you can feel it. This is a one-club city with huge history and tradition. I’m proud that we’ve got to Wembley, and we want to make one more step.

“It worked well on the night [the change in formation against Leeds], we needed to change. This game is different, so we’ll see what is best for us.”

Aston Villa boss Dean Smith spoke about his emotion going into the game and about starting quickly in the final.

He said:

“I’m quite calm, to be honest. Cool, calm and collected. We’ve had some good rest days, some good training days and now we’re really looking forward to it.

“It’s a long period to wait, from the semi-final to the final. There’s a lot of time to kill, but also a lot of preparation time. We’re feeling good.

“I think what helps us with that is that we’ve been playing must-win games for the last 15 or 16 matches. Every one has been taken in isolation and we went on an unbelievable run.

“These players can take great credit for that. Aston Villa has a proud history and these players are the ones who’ve won 10 on the bounce. They’ve already got history-making status on their side. They’re in form, too.

“We’ve just dominated two games against Albion, who finished above us. I thought the right team went through.”

Team News:

For Villa, Ørjan Nyland is the only player out with injury. Other than the Norwegian goalkeeper, Dean Smith has a fully fit line-up to pick from.

Striker Martyn Waghorn could feature after missing both ties against Leeds and left-back Scott Malone will miss the final due to being sent off in the second-leg against Leeds with veteran Ashley Cole looking likely to replace Malone in the line-up.

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