Promotion Playoff Final in England – which team goes up?
The game that has the title of the ‘richest game in football’ is upon us as two teams battle it out for the final spot in next season’s promised land, the PL. After a long and arduous season, Leeds United pipped Burnley to the top spot, so those two are guaranteed PPL football next season. Now, Sheffield United and Sunderland will battle it out for the final promotion spot at Wembley. Let’s take a look at tomorrow’s big match!
Sheffield United vs Sunderland
Wembley Stadium, Saturday @ 16:00
The game that has the title of the ‘richest game in football’ is upon us as two teams battle it out for the final spot in next season’s promised land, the PL. After a long and arduous season, Leeds United pipped Burnley to the top spot in the league standings, so those two are guaranteed PL football next season. The four teams below them enter into a playoff for the right to join them and it is Sheffield United and Sunderland who have managed to make it to Wembley for this showpiece match.
Sheffield United got the better of Bristol City in their semi-final, managing an impressive 6-0 aggregate win over the team from the west coast. They have the momentum heading into this match and will be hoping to make a swift return to the PL. Sheffield United do have a very poor record in playoffs though, losing nine appearances in the final, which illustrates that they tend to struggle under pressure. They finished 14 points ahead of opponents Sunderland so no one can argue they deserve their place in this match. Historically, third placed teams tend to do well as they have a 45% success rate in the playoffs when compared to the three places below them. 27 year old Callum O’Hare has had a good season for The Blades, playing 46 times this season and he scored the third goal in both legs of the playoff semi-finals, so he is a man in form. Manager Chris Wilder is going for his third promotion with Sheffield United having taken them up from League One in 2017 and from the Championship in 2019, earning him a manager of the year award.
Sunderland can be regarded as a sleeping giant of English football and will be desperate to get back to the PL after dropping all the way to League One in recent seasons. Watching rivals Newcastle perform so well will have made them jealous and they will want to be back in the mix in the top flight. They did manage to get through the playoff route three years ago when they made it from League One to the Championship but that was their first playoff success in seven attempts. Their semi-final against Coventry certainly was dramatic as it required a last minute goal from Dan Ballard to get them over the line. Prior to that exciting win they really struggled for form at the end of the normal season, losing five games in a row so they will certainly be hoping to have turned a corner going into this huge match. They failed to win any of their away matches against any team in the top eight, so that is a worry going into this tie with Sheffield United. Wilson Isidor has been a key man for Sunderland, scoring thirteen goals, nine of which came after half time. This could potentially be Jobe Bellingham’s last match for the club, regardless of the result as he is being linked with a number of big teams.
Sheffield United are favourites (2.38), understandably given their final standing in the league table and form going into this match whereas Sunderland can be backed at 3.37. Given so much is at stake in this match, it is understandable that they often fail to be very entertaining. Each of the last five ended with under 2.5 goals being scored in the 90 minutes and they tend to be tense affairs for players, fans and everyone associated with the clubs and only one set will be celebrating at the end of a massively important day.
Please note that the odds might have changed since the writing and/or publication of this article.
Last updated: 23.05.25
