Middlesbrough vs Norwich Championship Play-Off Final Preview

Middlesbrough vs Norwich Championship Play-Off Final Preview

The Championship play-offs are an exciting part of any season, climaxing in the richest game in football at Wembley. The 2015 Sky Bet Championship Play-Off Final will see Norwich City take on Middlesbrough at Wembley after the two clubs steered their way past potentially problematic semi-finals.

Ones To Watch

Patrick Bamford, the man on loan from Chelsea, is a natural goal scorer with 19 goals and 3 assists in 43 appearances this season for Boro. An unbelievable record considering his age, he is still only 21 and has scored goals at MK Dons, Derby and now Boro and has proven himself as a clinical striker who can be relied upon. Bamford has outstanding finishing and great quality from long range too, but he can cut inside from the left where he has scored 4 goals in 9 games playing from the left hand side of the attack, he can very easily drift into positions where he is hard to pick up and this makes him a massive counter-attacking threat with ability to drift wide. An under-rated characteristic is his ability to draw fouls from the opposition, which could give Boro dangerous freekick’s around the edge of the box.

21 year old Nathan Redmond is a player who I am surprised is even in the Championship, he was one of Norwich’s better players during the 2013/14 Premier League campaign and regularly impresses for the England U21’s. With only 3 goals in 28 games this season, you may be wondering why am singling him out? The pitch. Wembley is a massive pitch with plenty of space on the flanks, with Redmond’s pace and trickery I could easily see him being a huge threat especially with Norwich’s tendency to try and exploit the wings as much as possible. I think he is a player who is capable of coming up with that moment of quality you sometimes need in a big game.

Predicted Line-Ups

Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough Championship Play-Off Final Team

Norwich
Norwich Championship Play-Off Final Team

Tactical View

Norwich’s style of football is very much possession based, with 78% of their passes this season being short and having an average possession of 56%. They will try to dominate the ball at Wembley by trying to overload the midfield with 5 men which will need to involve Hoolahan coming deeper occasionally to help Norwich dominate the ball. They will get their fullbacks pushed up high and try to pen Middlesbrough in and try to stretch the huge pitch at Wembley by getting Redmond and Johnson as wide as possible but both hitting the box when the ball is pumped in.

Norwich score 70% of their goals from open play, 18% from set piece situations and only 5% from counter-attacks so they only intention will be to try and dominate the game, that is their style. This sounds great, but when a team defends well, like Middlesbrough can, then the team that has all the possession can become frustrated and commit too many men forward leaving gaps in the backline which can then be exploited by the pace of Boro’s wingers and Bamford’s excellent ability to stretch a defence by cutting in from the flanks.

Boro are excellent on the counter and will try to play through balls to try and unleash Bamford 1v1 with Ruddy. 19% of Boro’s passes this season have been long balls which indicate that if they can quickly turn over possession and feed Bamford early then if you get people on the counter with him then Middlesbrough could wreak havoc at Wembley. Middlesbrough’s average possession is 51% so although they are able to dominate the ball, they are not as committed to short passing as Norwich and this direct and somewhat combative approach could give them the upper hand in what is surely to be a fiery game.

Last 5 Meetings

17 Apr 2015 Norwich City v Middlesbrough (0-1) Championship

04 Nov 2014 Middlesbrough v Norwich City (4-0) Championship

03 Jan 2011 Middlesbrough v Norwich City (1-1) Championship

23 Oct 2010 Norwich City v Middlesbrough (1-0) Championship

22 Jan 2005 Norwich City v Middlesbrough (4-4) Premier League

Did You Know?

Middlesbrough have won 7 of their last 8 home matches in the Championship.

Middlesbrough have kept a clean sheet in 6 of their last 8 home matches in the Championship.

Middlesbrough have been winning at both half time and full time in 6 of their last 8 home matches in the Championship.

Norwich are undefeated in their last 12 away matches in the Championship.

There have been under 2.5 goals scored in Norwich's last 3 away games in the Championship.

Prediction

Everyone knows what is at stake; this day will make the season a huge success for one club and a failure at the final hurdle for another.

I can see Norwich dominating the ball in large spells, but also Middlesbrough imposing themselves into the game with Boro trying to play on the counter knowing that Norwich will flood numbers forward in support and with someone like Patrick Bamford up top – you’ll always have a chance of grabbing a goal.

Middlesbrough will have to take their chances because if they don’t score first then it could be incredibly difficult to try and seize Norwich’s possession based philosophy but if Middlesbrough can grab the first goal on the counter and soak up the pressure then I could see them winning this final tactically, not because they will play amazing football but they will be able to exploit Norwich’s weaknesses and defend well.

The two teams are so equal, it will one of the best contested Play-Off Finals in recent years, both teams have outstanding quality in nearly every position but I think it will be 1-1 with Boro scoring first and then another Middlesbrough goal in extra time (although I wouldn’t be surprised if it went to penalties!).

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