*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
It’s the most wonderful time of the year. That’s right, it’s the EFL playoffs. 46 games of graft, grit and grinding all come down to this. And for nine of our 12 clubs involved the whole thing’s going to have been a complete waste of time with only heartbreak on the menu.
The joys of football, eh? League One gets things underway and we’ll be running the rule over a clash that sees two massive clubs going at it in the shape of Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday at The Stadium of Light on Friday.
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In what was billed as a nervy end to the season, both of these cruised into the playoffs on the final day on the back of some good form and Plymouth’s capitulation.
This looks set to be a brilliant pair of games as both are in blistering form with both games to be played in front of packed houses. It’s time for me to step up to the plate and make some calls with a Bet Builder for the second of this week’s League One playoffs.
*A Bet Builder with these four bets pays at approximately 17/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
Friday 7.45pm: Sunderland v Sheffield Wednesday
TV: Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football
Sunderland to Win
I’ll start with some stats just to give you an indication of how tight these two games will be. Wednesday finished one place and one point above The Black Cats in the League One table with both winning 24 of their 46 games. Wednesday drew 13 to Sunderland’s 12 and the home side here picked up one more loss than their opponents with 10.
Sunderland scored one more goal than Wednesday and conceded just three more. These two have the best home records in the league with Wednesday picking up 53 points from their 23 games, two more than Sunderland. In the league Wednesday won 3-0 at home before Sunderland returned the favour with interest courtesy of a 5-0 victory on their own turf.
Their away records are remarkably similar as well, Sunderland picked up one more point on the road than Darren Moore’s men with them sitting 6th and 7th in the league on the road. Sunderland have won five of their last six games at home, drawing the other, while the Yorkshire side have two wins, two draws and two losses on the road.
I think this could go all the way to extra time with each side winning their home leg. Everything considered I’m kicking off with Sunderland to Win here, added in with the extra element that they love to give their fans hope before blowing it in spectacular, trademark, fashion.
Over 2.5 Goals
In their last six home games Sunderland fans have seen 20 goals, an average of 3.33 per game. For Wednesday, over the same timeframe, they’ve been involved in games with a total of 17 goals giving them an average of 2.83 per game. Sheffield Wednesday almost always score, in their last 15 games they’ve only drawn a blank twice, conceding in 11 of those.
The Black Cats have scored in eight of their last 10, keeping a clean sheet in half of those. However, I think The Owls will bag here and if Sunderland are to take a lead to Hillsborough we’re going to need to see Over 2.5 Goals.
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Nathan Broadhead to Score Anytime
It took a while for Nathan Broadhead to find his feet at Sunderland when joining on loan from Everton over the summer but, after coming back from a three-month injury around Christmas, he’s become one of their most important players. He’s only made 24 appearances but he’s scored 12 goals.
He tends to score in bundles and it took him until November to bag his first so he’s crammed them in since opening his account and either side of his layoff. He’s in red-hot form, has four in his last five, and Broadhead to Score Anytime looks the way to play despite Ross Stewart’s heroics for the hosts throughout the season.
Over 5.5 Sheffield Wednesday Corners
A big trend coming into this game is the amount of corners Sheffield Wednesday have been racking up of late. Other than on one occasion, away at MK Dons, they’ve had seven or more corners in all of their last nine League One matches.
While there is a chance it’s a tight and nervy affair on Friday I think both sides will go at it as they have for most of the season. If the away side play to form then we should easily see Wednesday have Over 5.5 Corners in this game as they’ve averaged bang on 7.0 per match in their last five.
Sunderland v Sheffield Wednesday tips
Sunderland to Win
Over 2.5 Goals
Nathan Broadhead to Score Anytime
Over 5.5 Sheffield Wednesday Corners
*A Bet Builder with these four bets pays at approximately 17/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
FREE BET IF 1 LEG LETS YOU DOWN
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*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
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