The EFL Championship play-off final is widely regarded as the most expensive game in football, estimated to be worth £160 million. A win escorts you to the riches of the Premier League, whereas a defeat may lead to the sales of assets to balance the books. Here, however, we were also treated to a local derby between Brentford and Fulham. Brentford are known for their savvy recruitment, having generated large sales on several occasions. Scott Parker’s team have increased financial muscle behind them, perhaps best demonstrated by Aleksander Mitrović staying after relegation.
In the two games in the regular season, Brentford came out victorious both times – 1:0 at Griffin Park, and a late 2:0 win away in the first game after the restart. The Bees had a tremendous comeback in their play-off second leg against Swansea City – the last game ever at Griffin Park. Fulham were defeated by Cardiff City at Craven Cottage, but a solid victory in the first leg allowed them to progress to Wembley.
In this tactical analysis, I will conduct analysis to look at the tactics of Brentford and Fulham in the EFL Championship play-off final.
Line-ups
Brentford made one change to the side that beat Swansea. Josh Dasilva came into the starting 11 in place of Emiliano Marcondes. Ollie Watkins has 26 goals this season joint-top with Mitrović. Potential Chelsea target Saïd Benrahma has 17 goals and nine assists.
The major news from Fulham’s end was the absence of their star striker once more. Mitrović missed both previous play-off games completely but did manage to make the bench here. This meant that Bobby Reid retained his place. Also, Denis Odoi replaced Cyrus Christic at right-back, and Aboubakar Kamara was chosen ahead of Anthony Knockaert.
