Coventry City and Luton Town face off in the Championship play-off final on Saturday afternoon.
After a tumultuous season full of action, it all comes down to this. Coventry City and Luton Town face one another at Wembley Stadium this weekend to decide who joins Burnley and Sheffield United in the Premier League.
Neither side were expected to get this far but it’s safe to say that both thoroughly deserve their day in the sun.
The Sky Blues finished the regular season in 5th place and overcame play-off favourites Middlesbrough to progress to the final. Mark Robins will be hoping to lead his City side back to the top-flight for the first time since 2001.
As for Luton Town, they haven’t been in the top-flight since the last season of the old First Division in 1992. Since then, they’ve fallen down the leagues and risen back up again, finishing 3rd in the Championship.
Both meetings between the two clubs ended level earlier this season, playing out a 2-2 draw at Kenilworth Road in September before a 1-1 draw in February.
Now, a handful of our writers make their score predictions for the game…
James Ray
“One of these teams is set for a heartbreaking end to another remarkable season, but that’s the harsh reality of the play-offs.
“This could be a tense game in the early knockings before hopefully opening up as time passes and while I’d say Luton Town are favourites to get it done, I’ve got a feeling the Sky Blues are going to emerge victorious.
“Mark Robins and Coventry have better and more recent experiences of playing on the big stage at Wembley, be it in play-off football or cup finals. Luton can’t match that, and I think that could have a really telling impact on the day.
It’s such a tough one to call but I can see late heartbreak for the Hatters. I’m going for an extra-time Coventry City win.”
Score prediction: Coventry City 2-1 Luton Town AET
Luke Phelps
“What a great final this will be. Two teams who’ve been through the ringer in recent years but who are now competing in the world’s most expensive game of football.
“And it should be an interesting watch between two teams with different approaches. Both teams are physical and both have prolific strikers, so we could yet see some goals after the early and inevitable caginess wears off.
“Luton boss Edwards might be wondering how his side can adapt to what is a big Wembley pitch, much different to the more compact one that we see at Kenilworth Road.
“This is such a tough one to call because both teams have the quality and momentum to beat the other, so I think it’ll go down to extra time and even all the way to penalties, at which point the eventual winner will need a bit of luck.
“This one’s almost too close to call, but overall I think Luton deserve to go up after this season.”
Score prediction: Luton Town to win on penalties
read more:
