Eagles To Soar

The richest club game in world football later today is between two closely rated teams; Burnley have a very slight edge in my ratings, but on current form, they have a somewhat larger advantage. For what it's worth (probably not much), Burnley also did the double over Sheffield United this season. There just seems to be a buzz about Burnley right now, especially surrounding star Chris Eagles and boss Owen Coyle. Sheffield United have a poor record in these play-offs, losing to 0-3 to Wolves in 2003, and 0-1 to Crystal Palace in 1997.

So after all this, Burnley are the value selection at 2.06 for promotion, but don't go putting your house on it, because these finals can go either way. Having backed both these teams for promotion before the semi-finals, I am on a winner either way. I have added a little to my Burnley position, but mostly I shall be reminiscing about the glorious play-off finals of 1989, 1997 and 2004.

Should Sheffield United go up, it would certainly be justice after the Tevez affair that cost them their place a couple of seasons back. I'm sure the referee is well aware of what happened back then. (Just preparing the groundwork on my conspiracy theory...)