Championship Play-Off Final: Crystal Palace vs. Watford on Monday, May 27th

16/05/2013 no comments »
Wembley Stadium - Carling Cup Final

Photo: Wembley National Stadium Ltd

There will be a chance to play Premier League football next season up for grabs as Crystal Palace take on Watford in the Championship Play-Off Final at Wembley on Monday 27th May 2013.

Both teams have played in the Premier League before and will definitely want a piece of the action again so this game is extremely important. Watford, who finished 3rd after failing to beat Leeds United on the final day, took a very interesting route to the final. 1-0 down on aggregate due to losing Leicester in the first leg, the Hornets were winning 2-1 in the second before Leicester were given a penalty in the last minute of extra time. All Anthony Knockaert had to do was slot the ball away to put Leicester through but Manuel Almunia pulled off a fantastic double save and Watford broke away on the counter-attack. Before everyone knew it, Troy Deeney had smashed the ball home to guide Watford through to the final. Watford have some very talented players but a lot of them are on loan, such as Matej Vydra, Almen Abdi and Ikechi Anya, but they do have other good players like Deeney, Lloyd Doyley and Fernando Forestieri.

Crystal Palace, who finished 5th in the league, progressed to the final through different circumstances. After a 0-0 draw in the first leg, they beat Brighton and Hove Albion 2-0 courtesy of two second half goals from Wilfried Zaha, who is off to Manchester United next season regardless of what happens. Crystal Palace also have a good crop of players who will be able to hold their own in the Premier League, such as Yannick Bolasie, Championship top scorer Glenn Murray, Mile Jedinak and Kagisho Dikgacoi.

The sum of money a team gains for getting promoted to the Premier League is large and both teams will be striving to win the game because of this, but also purely for the chance to play top flight football once again. Both Crystal Palace and Watford are capable of winning – so do not miss out!


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