Match Focus: Championship Play-offs - Second Leg Previews

Middlesbrough (2) vs Brentford (1) – Friday 7.45pm

Mark Warburton has insisted this tie is not over and considering the unpredictable season Brentford have endured, you would not put it past them to overturn the deficit at the most difficult Championship ground to get a result this season but it is an onerous task. The fairytale is close to ending and Warburton might be looking for a new job this time next week.

Certainly, there are players in the Brentford squad capable of producing a moment of magic but everything points to Middlesbrough booking their place at Wembley. “We have won at tough venues, scored late goals and got out of difficult situations,” Warburton said after last Friday’s first leg. “There is unity in the dressing room and we have to rely on that next week. Everyone seems to think we are out of this now. That is when we are at our most dangerous.”

The problem facing Brentford however is that Middlesbrough conceded only 12 times at the Riverside all season. In 2015 their fearsome home record reads P11 W9 D1 L1 and considering Boro battered Brentford 4-0, albeit earlier in the season when the table was still taking shape, a win for the London club would rank highly on the list of play-off shocks.

They will need to find the net twice to advance – only Sheffield Wednesday back in August have managed to do that at the Riverside all season. It would be surprising to see Brentford going gung-ho from the start, however. They have a knack for scoring late – 31.6% of their goals have come in the last 15 minutes of games – and Warburton may look to ensure they do not concede early on before attempting to strike Boro when legs tire. Still, Boro have kept 13 clean-sheets at home this season, Brentford have managed only 11 in total. They have also only won four of their past 12 games and the end to their regular season was hardly promotion form.

Boro’s weakness is in attack where they remain over-reliant on Patrick Bamford, who was watched by José Mourinho in the first leg, but an early goal from the hosts would put it to bed and their defence should look after the rest.

Norwich (1) vs Ipswich (1) – Saturday 12.15pm

The first leg could be looked at as something of a phoney war and although Ipswich will have been satisfied to come from behind, it must now be advantage Norwich, especially when you consider how Ipswich have performed on the road this season. It was a typically frenetic derby tie in the opening stages and brilliantly entertaining up until the interval but the second half was dull and there was a sense of conservatism about it all, as if both teams were petrified to make a costly mistake.

There are no frills about Ipswich: defend well, go direct and try to get Daryl Murphy involved as much as possible. The Irish striker could not add to his 27 goal tally at Portman Road and despite having a couple of decent chances, was subdued compared to the exceptional standards he has set this season.

Norwich, on the other hand, are all about keeping possession and wearing the opposition down. They enjoyed lengthy spells with the ball in the first leg and will be expected to dominate that aspect further in this Saturday’s renewal. The key will be to find a hole in an Ipswich defence that has proven increasingly resilient.

Wes Hoolahan, despite being disappointing when sprung from the bench at Portman Road and managing a paltry pass completion rate of 63.2%, could come into the starting XI with the objective of picking pockets of space to exploit behind the Tractor Boys’ back four.

Ipswich have won only seven times away from home this season and were defeated at Carrow Road earlier in the campaign and they will need to produce something quite special to keep their East Angian rivals at bay. Expect Norwich to dominate but Ipswich could well punish them on the counter.

Which two teams do you think will meet in the Championship play-off final? Let us know in the comments below