Championship Predictions > Jul 26th & 27th

[StevieDay1983]

[StevieDay1983]

The Championship Play-Off Semi-Finals are taking place this week. Swansea gatecrashed the play-offs at the last minute at the expense of Nottingham Forest and will be looking to add further misery to Brentford's season after the Bees missed out on automatic promotion in car crash fashion. Cardiff will then take on Fulham in the second play-off match. Check out the odds and ratings above then tell us your predictions. 

[StevieDay1983]

Swansea vs Brentford

The Championship Play-Off Semi-Finals kick off on Sunday evening at 6:30pm BST from the Liberty Stadium when surprise package Swansea will look to cause an upset against a Brentford side that narrowly missed out on automatic promotion following a collapse in form towards the end part of the season. Which of these two sides will take an advantage heading into the second leg?

Swansea looked down and out of the play-off race heading into the final day of the league season. 3 points behind the play-off spots and needing a huge goal swing to secure a spot. Things looked dead and buried as it became clear Cardiff weren't going to slip up against Hull. However, Nottingham Forest's complete implosion ensured that a miracle happened with the Jacks securing a surprise 4-1 away win over Reading as Forest suffered a devastating 4-1 loss at home to Stoke. Turnaround complete! Momentum is in Swansea's favour with the club now unbeaten in 3 league games including back-to-back wins and it's just 1 defeat in their last 7 league matches.

Brentford must pick themselves up after the disappointment of missing out on second spot in the league. Thomas Frank's men had numerous opportunities to capitalise on West Brom's slip-ups but failed to do so. The Bees finished 3rd in the table and must now overcome an in-form Swansea team. Back-to-back defeats to Stoke and Barnsley in the league brought to an end a winning run of 8 league matches. If they can tap back into that mentality then they should have no problems having beaten Swansea 3-1 at home and 3-0 away this season.

Play-off matches are a strange beast. There's no lie in the old saying that it's a lottery. You could play these matches 100 times over and witness 100 different scenarios. I feel there looks to be a bit of confidence building with Swansea now. They've sneaked in to the play-offs and often it can be those sides that spring a surprise to prevail victorious. Brentford just look like they've had the wind knocked out of their sails. I think Brentford might still squeeze through on aggregate but I can certainly see the value in a Swansea win here.

Swansea Draw No Bet @ 2.70 with SportNation

Total Goals Scored Under 2.5 @ 1.73 with Betfair

[Magic0024]

Football Facts and Streaks regarding Championship

Cardiff have won their last 3 matches in Championship.
There have been under 2.5 goals scored in 82% of Fulham’s last 11 away games in Championship.
There have been over 2.5 goals scored in Cardiff’s last 3 games in Championship.
Fulham are undefeated in 92% of their last 12 away matches in Championship.
Cardiff have scored at least 2 goals in 83% of their last 6 home matches in Championship.

You can find interesting 35 Football Betting Facts and Streaks for 27.07.2020 on this link ... https://eurofootballrumours.com/football-facts-and-streaks-27-07-2020-20062

[StevieDay1983]

Cardiff vs Fulham

The second Championship Play-Off Semi-Final is coming up on Monday night at 7:45pm BST when Cardiff play Fulham at the Cardiff City Stadium. The Welsh side hit form at the right time to move up the table and into the top six but do they have enough about them to compete with a London club that will be disappointed they didn't achieve promotion automatically?

Cardiff were looking well off the pace when Neil Warnock left the club and was replaced by Neil Harris. The Bluebirds have gone through a transformation of not only form but playing style. Harris has put faith in his more creative players with the likes of Will Vaulks, Lee Tomlin, and Robert Glatzel looking rejuvenated under the guidance of the former Millwall manager. Just 2 losses from their final 11 league games helped move the club into the play-offs and they eventually sealed their top six position in comfortable fashion by ending the season with 3 wins on the bounce.

Fulham know they come into this game as the clear favourites against a Cardiff side they beat in the league 2-0 just a matter of weeks ago. Scott Parker has said before this game that he and his players are confident they can earn promotion through the play-offs. Is it confidence or arrogance? The Cottagers ended up in 4th place but were still in with a chance of automatic promotion on the final day after going unbeaten in their last 7 league matches.

As with all play-off games this will be hard to call but the fact Cardiff are unbeaten at home against all the top six sides this season shows they pose a massive challenge for Fulham in this first leg. The home side are in free-scoring form at home having bagged at least 2 goals in 5 of their last 6 home matches. I am nervous as a Cardiff fan about this one and I'm always pessimistic about success via the play-offs. I do think we'll get something from this game though.

Cardiff Draw No Bet @ 1.95 with SportNation

BTTS @ 2.05 with SportNation