The regular English Championship season has ended and we have entered the crucial playoffs. There is a place for just one more team in the Premier League next season and Fulham and Derby County will battle it out to reach the playoff final on Monday night.
The first leg ended 1-0 to Derby County at Pride Park Stadium and they take a slender advantage into this second leg at Craven Cottage. Both teams will believe they have a great chance of reaching the final at Wembley in what should be a cracking game.
Fulham come into this game having narrowly missed out on automatic promotion to the Premier League. They finished the regular season in third place, just 2 points behind Cardiff City. However, a final day defeat at Birmingham City saw their automatic promotion hopes end and this was followed by the 1-0 defeat in the first leg of the playoffs.
Slavia Jokanovic be delighted to return to Craven Cottage for this game as trends show Fulham have remained undefeated in their last fifteen Championship matches on home soil. Fulham have won twelve of those fifteen games and have kept a clean sheet in nine.
Fulham have won by more than 2 goals in seven of their last eleven home Championship games and a win by that margin in this match would be good enough to see them go through.
Derby County make the trip south to London having not only won the first leg 1-0 but kept a clean sheet and that could prove vital if the tie ends level.
Gary Rowett’s team were never really in contention to win automatic promotion to the Premier League this season but have remained around the edge of the playoffs, clinching sixth place with a 4-1 win on the final day of the regular season against Barnsley.
Derby County are undefeated in their last four Championship games, winning three and drawing one but away form is not good. Trends show they have won just one of their last nine away Championship games.
However, they have proven difficult to beat away from home during the season, losing only three of their last nineteen Championship matches. If they can avoid defeat once more, they are guaranteed a place in the Championship playoff final this season.
Team news and Fulham are monitoring the fitness of Sheyi Ojo who has a knock and could be fit enough to take some part in the game. Aleksandar Mitrovic has been excellent since joining from Newcastle and is expected to start this game up-front with support on the flank from Ryan Sessegnon.
With Marcus Olsson, Kyle McAllister and Sam Winnall still on the treatment table, Derby are likely to go into this match with the same starting XI from the first leg. That means a place in the team for Championship top scorer, Matej Vydra.
Given the home and away form of both teams, Fulham should come out on top in this game. The question mark remains on the final score but the home team look capable of winning this match by the 2 goals they need to reach the playoff final.