League Two Play-Off Final - The Preview
Bringing the curtain down on another EFL season, it’s the League Two play-off final.
4th vs 5th, Walsall vs Wimbledon, two teams that will have come away from the regular season disappointed that automatic promotion evaded them but through wonderful semi-final displays, have given themselves every chance of promotion success at Wembley.
The best defence faces off against the best attack - Wimbledon have conceded just 35 goals whilst Walsall have had the ball in the back of the net 75 times this campaign.
Wimbledon will have the advantage in the stands, shifting nearly twice as many tickets. No doubt it’ll be much more closely contested on the pitch.
AFC Wimbledon - What to expect
Predicted Lineup: Goodman, Harbottle, Lewis, Johnson, Tilley, Smith, Reeves, Hippolyte, Neufville, Browne, Stevens (3-5-2)
Wimbledon’s defence has been impenetrable at points this season, they’ve conceded just 35 goals, the lowest in the league by a mile.
Their defensive approach led them towards the top end of the table going into the tail end of the season, they had every chance of gaining automatic promotion but won just 1 of their last 5, scuppering their top 3 hopes in the process.
Johnnie Jackson rallied his troops however and over two legs they carried out a near faultless semi-final performance against Notts County, winning both games by a goal to nil.
In both games they were prepared to let County have the majority of the ball and look to hit them on the break using the pace of Stevens and Browne. Once ahead they sat in and let their backline do all the hard work mopping everything up.
They won’t be able to take that approach this time round though, Walsall are also a side that are more than comfortable off the ball so there will be points where Wimbledon will need to build attacks more meticulously rather than relying on their counter attacking pace.
Players to watch out for include star striker Matty Stevens who has notched 17 goals this campaign, whilst he’s on a bit of a dry run, he remains ever dangerous up top.
Not often you mention a goalkeeper as a star player but Owen Goodman has been exceptional between the sticks for the Dons this season. 21 clean sheets in his 46 games league games, the Palace loanee command his box so well and has made some outstanding saves along the way.
The Dons’ play-off victory in 2016 will still be fresh in fans minds, all expectations will be for them to repeat such success and secure themselves a place in League One for next season.
Walsall - What To Expect
Predicted Lineup: Simkin, Okagbue, Williams, Allen, Asiimwe, Chang, Stirk, Gordon, Hall, Jellis, Matt (3-4-2-1)
What a turbulent season it has been for the Saddlers, full of ups and downs.
Up until the middle of January, Walsall were by far and away the best side in this league. They had absolutely rolled through the competition and were 12 points clear at the summit going into 2025.
Capitulation followed however, after beating MK Dons 4-2 on the 18th of January, they would go on to win just 3 more games, including a final day victory which somehow nearly sent them up automatically, shows how good their start was.
Regardless of their terrible form in the second half of the season, Walsall executed a superb couple of performances against an on-form Chesterfield side to send themselves to Wembley. It was a masterclass in game management and making the most of your chances.
Walsall’s attack has been a plus point this season, the Saddler’s scored 75 goals across the 46 game season. Left-sided centre-half Taylor Allen popped up with 10 of these whilst also providing 7 assists, ridiculous output from a so called defender.
Allen could certainly be the man of the moment this bank holiday Monday but I’m sure EFL fans will be keeping a watchful eye on much loved Albert Adomah. He was the star during the second leg as Walsall came away 2-1 victors, providing two assists off the bench. He will most likely be used from the bench again but we all hope to see him enter the field of play at some point this afternoon so we can watch him dance around defenders on the big stage once again.
Another veteran, target man Jamile Matt will look to cause havoc up top, whilst young guns Jamie Jellis and George Hall provide the support from behind. Walsall’s plan of attack is clear, quick, strong and direct.
With the regular season ending in such a disappointing collapse, Matt Sadler’s side have a chance now to right their wrong and send the Saddlers to League One.
Match Forecast
As was the case with the League One play-off final, this is not going to be a pretty match. If it’s anything like expected, it’ll be a scrappy affair between two closely matched sides.
These are two teams that pride themselves on their work off the ball and look to attack quickly using pace and power.
With Wimbledon missing their target man through injury, I wonder if they might look to take control of the ball more often to try and work the ball into their strikers feet. They won’t get anywhere near as much space in behind for Stevens and Browne to penetrate as they did against Notts County so this could be their best plan of attack.
I think this game will be won and lost by how well the wing-backs perform. For both sides these wide players are key outlets down the sides and need to be able to get up and down to support attacks whilst doing their bit defensively.
They will have their work cut out, Wembley is a huge pitch and this game has potential to be quite fast paced as both teams look to use their athleticism and attack with pace.