Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
The 2024/25 Championship play-off final has all the makings of being an instant classic, with two very different styles facing up to one another at Wembley on Saturday afternoon.
While Chris Wilder and Regis Le Bris do share one tactic in common, their use of a 4-4-2, the variation in this formation will make this weekend’s clash a very intriguing watch as a young Sunderland side look to take their club back to the Premier League for the first time in eight years.
They face a Sheffield United team who have never tasted play-off success, and the Black Cats will be hoping to inflict further damage on the South Yorkshire outfit who were playing their football in the top flight in 2023/24.
In a one-off game, anything can happen, but if history from this season tells us anything, then Saturday’s clash will be incredibly tight and one moment may just prove to be decisive at Wembley.
- READ MORE – How the 10 most recent Championship play-off winners have fared following promotion to the Premier League
Ali Maxwell makes his Championship play-off final prediction, it may be a surprise
Sunderland’s incredible 3-2 semi-final victory over Coventry City will always be remembered for Dan Ballard’s stunning extra-time header, but the performance showed so much more than that as they soaked up pressure for much of the second leg before going back on the front foot when the tie was level.
Le Bris has brought a renewed passion to Wearside, and supporters have bought in fully to his leadership – despite their poor run of form at the end of the regular season.
With one win each against one another earlier in 2024/25, there may not be much to split the two, and Ali Maxwell has predicted his winner at Wembley ahead of the Championship play-off final.
He said: “I have a feeling about Sunderland.
“I don’t know exactly how it’s going to look, whether they go ahead, whether they have to come from behind. I don’t think it’s hugely logical, because off the bench, Sheffield United are stronger. They were a better team overall in the regular season.
“But I just want to point out that when Sunderland played Burnley both times in the regular season, I maintain in those games, they were absolutely equals of those two teams who finished above them with many more points and arguably even better than those teams across those four games.”
Maxwell concluded: “That makes me feel good about them as a big game team. I’m sure Sheffield United can point at big games where they came out on the right side of it. But I’m going to lean to Sunderland winning promotion to the Premier League – 2-1 final score.”
Regis Le Bris will feel that he owes supporters after a dismal end to the season
Sunderland’s form unfolded in February, with Leeds United’s late 2-1 victory looking like it was the turning point in their season and they did not end the campaign in any sort of form.
The Black Cats can set a new play-off record by winning the play-offs off the back of five straight defeats in the league, and Le Bris will know that he owes supporters one more fantastic performance to help ease the blow of the last couple of months.
Their victory over Coventry will renew confidence, something that they have lacked in recent weeks. However, the Championship play-off final will not be a walk in the park for either side, and there will be moments that make or break a season in just 90 minutes.
Nevertheless, Sunderland fans should be excited, with few expecting them to be in this position at the start of August.