Don Goodman issues his verdict on Sheffield United v Sunderland Play-Off Final clash

May 17, 2025 Goodnews England Championship 0

Sheffield United finished one place and 14 points ahead of Sunderland in the Championship as the two prepare to meet in the Play-Off Final.

Don Goodman, a former Sunderland striker and Sky Sports pundit, admits that Sheffield United will be the favourites in next week’s Play-Off final, but the Black Cats will not be concerned.
Both teams will enter the Wembley final full of confidence, albeit for different reasons.

United demonstrated why they finished the season with 90 points by easily defeating Bristol City 6-0 on aggregate. Meanwhile, the Black Cats are ecstatic after Dan Ballard’s injury-time goal in extra time helped them defeat Coventry City at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday.

This season, the Blades won 1-0 at Bramall Lane and Sunderland won 2-1 at home, putting the two sides on an equal playing field.
Sunderland struggled towards the conclusion of the season, just as their play-off spot was assured, and failed to win any of their last six games. This resulted in a 14-point difference between United in second and Regis Le Bris’ team in third.

Don Goodman’s verdict on the Play-Off Final – ‘Tough to call’

“I can’t see the points disparity being reflected in the final at all,” said Goodman, who will co-commentate on the Play-Off Final. “Sunderland have been in the top four all season and, despite having a terrible finish, they showed a level of consistency for two-thirds of the league season. “ They also put in two really excellent performances against Sheffield United earlier in the season, losing 1-0 at Bramall Lane after missing a penalty in a game in which both teams had a player sent off. You may argue that they didn’t deserve to lose the game before defeating Sheffield United at the Stadium of Light, where the roles were reversed and Kieffer Moore missed a penalty before Sunderland seized the lead.
“Sheffield United are going about their game in a different way than they did for about 85-90% of their season by playing with two forwards. Both teams will encounter quite different games from their semi-finals as Sheffield United won’t be trying to control possession like Coventry and Sunderland will represent more of a goal scoring threat than Bristol City were able to.

“It’s a tough call. Most people would not have anticipated Sunderland to overcome Coventry after a disastrous end to the season. It will be an intriguing clash between two astute managers.

“I would say Sheffield United are the favourites, but no one at Sunderland will be outraged or worried by this. Logic would say that a team with 92 points will be promoted, but might it be written in the stars for Sunderland to be promoted following the way the encounter against Coventry went?

Don was speaking with FruityKing.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*