Championship Playoffs preview: Who will join Norwich and Watford in the Premier League?
Norwich and Watford are already up, but now begins the path to discover who joins the duo in the Premier League next season. Bournemouth and Brentford kick off the first leg of the Championship playoffs tonight followed by Barnsley's welcome of Swansea, before the second legs this weekend.
Bournemouth come into the playoffs in poor form. Jonathan Woodgate oversaw three successive defeats to round off the season and it meant a showdown with Brentford rather than Swansea for a shot at glory. One of those losses was a 1-0 defeat to the Bees last month and it was hardly ideal prep for the meeting with a side experienced at this stage.
Woodgate is without Lewis Cook for the duration of the playoffs owing to an ACL injury, but Junior Stanislas will hope to play some part as he looks to overcome a hamstring complaint. Arnaut Danjuma comes into the playoffs in good form having had a direct hand in 14 goals, scoring nine, in his final 13 outings of the season, while strike Dominic Solanke has also impressed under the watchful eye of Woodgate.
For Brentford, a February blip and a run of six draws across March and April cost them an automatic promotion spot and they'll be looking to go one better than they managed last term, where they fell to defeat in the playoff final at the hands of west London rivals Fulham. Unlike Bournemouth, a run of four wins to see out the campaign, including victories over the Cherries and Watford, means they have momentum ahead of their semi-final showdown.
Thomas Frank is without quartet Shandon Baptiste, Rico Henry, Josh Dasilva and Henrik Dalsgaard for this evening's clash, with the absence of Henry and Dasilva particularly hard hitting. Sergi Canos and Bryan Mbuemo are both competing for a wing-back role on the south coast, but there can be no debate on who leads the attack with Ivan Toney seeking to build upon his 31-goal haul this season
There are a number of worthy candidates for the manager of the season award, but Valerien Ismael is arguably the favourite for the gong. He took over the Barnsley reins with the Tykes second bottom with three points from the opening six games of the campaign. Winning 75 points from the remaining 40 games, the fourth best in that period, is a testament to Ismael's managerial skills and he'll look to prove Barnsley aren't in the playoffs to merely make up the numbers.
Ben Williams is Ismael's only confirmed absentee, though he hasn't featured at all this season. Rather, the Barnsley boss is hoping Alex Mowatt can overcome a groin problem to feature in midfield having missed the final day clash with Norwich. Daryl Dike, who joined from Orlando City earlier this year, is looking to add to his nine league goals.
Swansea were unable to hold their nerve when it seemed a genuine promotion push was on the cards as four successive defeats across March and April ultimately cost them a top-two spot. They haven't been in great form coming into the playoffs, winning just one of the last five, but that was largely due to head coach Steve Cooper experimenting with his system to hand fringe players a chance.
Having used a three-man defence for the bulk of the campaign, Cooper recently moved to a 4-3-3, with Andre Ayew and Jamal Lowe flanking the frontman. Centre-back Ben Cabango, who has shone in 2020/21, is a doubt for the Swans and that is likely to see Marc Guehi partner Ryan Bennett at the heart of the defence, but Steven Benda and January arrival Jordan Morris are sidelined for the Swans.
