David Prutton has predicted Derby County to defeat Aston Villa 1-0 in the Championship play-off final in Monday.
The Sky Sports pundit acknowledged that the Villans were the favourites going into Monday’s game after blowing Derby away twice in the league, but he admitted he didn’t see that happening again.
Prutton claimed that Frank Lampard’s side were a lot better now and after their comeback against Leeds in the semi-finals, he believes they will win promotion to the Premier League ahead of Aston Villa.
“Aston Villa are the favourites here, I think that is safe to say,” said Prutton in his predictions for Sky Sports.
“They have already blown away Derby twice this season as well, beating them 4-0 and 3-0 in the league. Frank Lampard’s side are a lot better now, though, and I can’t see that happening again.”
“It should be a great game on Monday and there are plenty of subplots at play as well at Wembley.
“We have also got Lampard versus John Terry, all the young players on loan from the Premier League playing their final games for their clubs, Villa being beaten finalists from last year and Derby trying to finally shake off their tag of a side that always falls away at the wrong time.”
“These are such nervy affairs because there is so much at stake, and you can usually feel the tension in the air hours before kick-off. There aren’t often too many goals either. You have to go back to 2012 for the last time both teams scored in the final, and more often than not, it has finished 1-0.
“Both of these sides are much better going forward than in defence, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a solitary goal decided this one again. It could so easily go either way, but I just think because of the way Derby came back against Leeds they will believe they can do it again.”
OPINION
Wow, this is not the prediction Aston Villa fans would have wanted to read or were expecting. Prutton points out how the Villans beat Derby not once but twice comfortably in the 2018/19 season, so surely they can do it a third time at Wembley. Also Aston Villa know all about the pressures of playing at Wembley having reached the play-off final last season. So with that in mind, surely the Villans’ experience and record over Derby means they’ll be victorious on Monday. While Derby’s comeback against Leeds was impressive and no doubt inspirational for them; it shouldn’t be enough to carry them over the line. Leeds at the end of the day gifted the Rams a way back into their clash and if they hadn’t, Marcelo Bielsa’s side would be the Villans’ opponents on Monday. However while that ended up not being the case, it doesn’t mean Derby have enough to defeat the Villans in the final.