Championship Playoff Final tips: can Forest end 23-year wait for Premier League?

A place in the Premier League is on the line when Nottingham Forest and Huddersfield meet at Wembley on Sunday.

Forest favourites for richest game

An exciting Championship season comes to an end on Sunday at Wembley Stadium when Huddersfield Town and Nottingham Forest square off in what Sky like to call the richest game in world football, the Championship Playoff Final.

Forest are favourites at 2.24, while Huddersfield are 3.75 and the draw is 3.3.

Neither side were among many people’s picks to be contenders this season, but Forest’s run from bottom to the playoffs has captivated the city.

And while the Terriers are not getting the headlines that Forest are and they might be viewed as the underdogs, no one should be writing off Huddersfield Town.

Cooper’s impressive season

Back in September, when Chris Hughton was fired as Nottingham Forest manager, they were marooned at the bottom of the table having gathered just one point from their seven league matches. What Steve Cooper has managed since is remarkable.

In fact, Forest’s winless run stretched back 13 games in total, well into the previous season. It was a job not many will have wanted, with talk of deep-rooted problems and an over-inflated squad that hamstrung the club financially.

But as well as their remarkable run up the table, Forest reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Whatever happens on Sunday, this has been an incredible season. 

Nottingham Forest take on Huddersfield at Wembley Stadium on Sunday afternoon for a place in the Premier League

The weight of history

Much is made of “long-suffering” fans, which is usually a lazy way of describing followers of Manchester United and Arsenal who seem to believe that a trophy and Champions League should be virtually guaranteed as a reward for buying this season’s shirt.

The very nature of sport always means there will be many more losers over a season than winners and it’s a tougher job supporting Bury or Carlisle than United. While you will have to be very old indeed to remember when Huddersfield were one of the giants of English football (champions three times in a row in the Twenties), you will only have to be in your 40s to be aware of when Nottingham Forest were kings of Europe.

But the glory days of Brian Clough are a long time ago now. Forest’s stay outside the top flight now stretches back 22 seasons, several of which were spent in League 1.

Still, they have both played in the Premier League, Huddersfield as recently as 2019, so that should spare spurious claims that victory would be “beyond their wildest dreams” should they be promoted.

But history brings pressure to Forest. And having flown under the radar for much of the season after their dreadful start, it is all down to one match.

Huddersfield have also been here before and gained promotion to the top flight in 2017 via the playoffs when they beat Reading on penalties.

Remarkably, Forest have never played a game at the new Wembley Stadium. Their last Wembley appearance was in the League Cup Final of 1992 when Clough was still in charge. Their fans will want more than just a big day out. 

Winning edge

In the playoffs, you often want to back the team with momentum, but both sides came into the post-season in fine form. Huddersfield won six and drew one of their last seven matches, while Forest won seven of their last ten.

What Forest have is more match winners. In Brennan Johnson and Lewis Grabban, Forest have two players who have scored more than ten goals this season. Huddersfield have only one, Danny Ward, and he has only scored once in their last eight fixtures.

Forest have goal threats everywhere. Keinan Davis, Ryan Yates, James Garner, Philip Zinckernagel and Sam Surridge are all capable of scoring crucial goals. Huddersfield have only scored more than two goals twice this year.

That is reflected in the final Championship table. Huddersfield, despite finishing two points above Forest, had a goal difference of +17 compared to Forest’s +33.

It is not difficult to be impressed with Huddersfield’s Spanish head coach Carlos Corberan. After relegation from the Premier League, Huddersfield finished 18^th and 20^th. But Corberan has built a winning team this season and they are well capable of getting a result in what could be a tight match.

Recommended bets

Half-time 0-0 @ 2.48

Under 1.5 goals @ 2.88

Forest win to nil @ 3.25