Championship Playoff Final is still stuck on ESPN+ on the US TV schedule. Streaming it is, then ... tomorrow at Noon eastern.
Fulham vs Aston Villa at Wembley. The oddsmakers seem to like Fulham, who play a more open passing game and try to build out of the back (largely triggered through American CB Tim Ream FWIW). Villa are managed by Steve Bruce, so that's nothing like their game. They like to hoof the ball long to their wings and let Jack Grealish create something in the ensuing chaos when the ball pings into the middle. The physical Bournemouth loanee Louis Grabban has been their lone striker of choice in the latter stages of the season. He's a heading machine and they feed him a lot of crosses. They usually commit two midfielders to defending the center of the pitch. It ain't pretty but they managed to score only 4 less goals than the more widely appreciated Fulham in the regular season. James Chester and (ugh) John Terry make a pragmatic central defense pairing ... some might replace "pragmatic" with "cynical." They'd probably be right. Villa mucks it up pretty good. Both managers have been there and done that, with Fulham's Jokanovic having brought Watford through to the Prem and Bruce having dragged Birmingham and Hull City up the ladder in past seasons.
So ... clash of styles on display. Villa's got more Premiere League experience in the team, but Fulham plays a more cohesive ground game. We'll see who reacts the best to the bright lights, because that's going to have more to do with the outcome than anything.
