Derby Has Slight Edge To Win
Published on May 20th, 2014 5:22 pm ESTThe English Championship, which is one level below the English Premier League, will be having their play-off final on Saturday, May 24th.
This play-off final is called the "richest game in the world", as the winner heads to the English Premier League next season, while the loser remains in the English Championship. There is a massive amount of money on the line, as the winner will enjoy an increase of between 100-120 million pounds in extra revenue next season due to the greatly increased television contracts that EPL teams are entitled to, as well as increased ticket and merchandise sales.
The players on Derby County will have an extra incentive to win on Saturday, as their club has promised them a 4.5 million pound bonus if they can win.
Each year in the English Championship, the top two teams (Leicester City, Burnley) moved on automatically to the English Premier League, while the 3-6 teams (Derby County, QPR, Wigan Athletic and Brighton and Hove Albion) squared off in a knockout playoff format. Derby County and QPR both won their preliminary games, setting the stage for the May 24th final at Wembley Stadium.
-
Derby has the slight edge as you can see from the odds below:
Derby, 2.30
Draw, 3.20
QPR, 3.10
The "draw no bet" odds:
Derby, 1.53
QPR, 2.37
-
Derby County finished the season with a record of 25-10-11, while QPR finished with a record of 23-11-12. Derby County was the highest scoring team in the English Championship this season, which means that QPR will have to find a way to stymy their offensive attack.
Derby County and QPR split their two games this season with both teams winning at home.
The pressure will be unbelievable on Saturday - which team will pull through and move on to the English Premier League next season and which team will crack?
