After a long season, here we are in the Championship play-off final, where the winner will join Sheffield United and Norwich City in the biggest league in England, and possibly the world.
While Aston Villa will be aiming to banish the demons of Wembley they suffered 12 months ago when they lost the final to Fulham, Derby County are in this situation after quite some time, and their young squad would be looking to make history.
On paper and form of the last three months, Dean Smith’s men would most possibly start as favourites. They also won both league games against Derby, with an aggregate score of 7-0.
However, Frank Lampard’s men defied the odds to reach the final. They defeated Leeds United at Elland Road in the second leg of the semi-final tie to take the road to Wembley. Hence, counting them out of contention to play one last odd-defying match of the season would be foolish.
All in all, we can expect a fabulous game between two teams who play an attacking brand of football.
Below, we take a look at the key battles on the pitch, that could possibly decide the fate of this encounter:
