The League One playoff winner odds and ticket sales have been revealed ahead of the 2022 semi finals which get underway this week.
MK Dons, Sheffield Wednesday, Sunderland and Wycombe are confirmed as the four teams to battle it out for a place in the Championship.
Getting the semi finals underway is Wycombe against MK Dons, taking place on Thursday the 5th of May with a 7:45pm kick off.
The Chairboys finished sixth while MK Dons finished third in the league. The second leg will be played at Stadium MK on Sunday the 8th of May.
On Friday, again a 7:45pm kick off, two of League One’s biggest clubs meet as Sunderland host Sheffield Wednesday.
The Owls are hoping for an instant reprieve following relegation last season, while the Black Cats are facing the prospect of a fifth consecutive campaign in the third tier if they do not prevail.
Sheffield Wednesday finished 4th and Sunderland ended up in 5th place.
FAVOURITES TO WIN LEAGUE ONE PLAYOFFS
Sheffield Wednesday – 15/8
MK Dons – 5/2
Sunderland – 3/1
Wycombe – 7/2
TICKET SALES
Sheffield Wednesday have sold out their allocation of 2,000 for this all-ticket fixture at the Stadium of Light while a massive 41,500 is believed to have been sold in total to make up one of the biggest EFL playoff semi final attendances of all time.
Sunderland have sold out their allocation of 2,000 for their second leg at Hillsborough. 33,394 was the biggest attendance of the season for Sheffield Wednesday, can they better that?
Over 1,800 MK Dons supporters are set to travel to Adams Park on Thursday to get behind Liam Manning’s men when they take on Wycombe, who have said that around 7,500 tickets had been sold by Tuesday night.
Of an allocation of 2,028 tickets in an away end that holds around 8,000 at Stadium MK, Wycombe had sold 1,200 tickets within the first two hours of going on sale, confirmed on Tuesday afternoon. Wycombe wanted an allocation of 5,000 for the Bucks derby but MK said they were sticking to league rules (a limit of 2,000 set). The amount sold by MK for their home game isn’t revealed. They average 9,314 at home, with the highest set at 15,000 with thanks to Ipswich’s large following earlier this season.
PRE-MATCH STATS:
– This will be the fourth meeting of the season between Wycombe Wanderers and MK Dons, with the Chairboys suffering defeat in each of the previous three – twice in the league and once in the Papa John’s Trophy; no side has ever beaten Wycombe four separate times in the same campaign.
– On home soil, Wycombe have beaten MK Dons only once over their six previous meetings (D2 L3), a 3-2 win in August 2019.
– MK Dons have scored in each of the previous 14 clashes with Wycombe in all competitions (25 in total), winning each of the last four matches between the sides, keeping a clean sheet in three of those.
– Wycombe are appearing in their sixth EFL play-off campaign, reaching the final in three of those (1994, 2015, 2020) and managing promotion in two (1994, 2020). Under Gareth Ainsworth and despite losing on penalties in the 2015 final, the Chairboys have never lost a play-off game (W4 D2).
– This will be MK Dons’ fifth play-off campaign, though they have never before gained promotion via this method, never even managing to reach the final in any of 2007, 2009, 2011 or 2012. Liam Manning will be the fourth different manager trying to achieve a first for the club, after Martin Allen (2007), Roberto Di Matteo (2009) and Karl Robinson (2011, 2012).
– The team finishing third in League One has been promoted via the play-offs in each of the last three campaigns. Before this, third place had gained promotion in just two of the previous 10 seasons.
– MK Dons registered a league-high total of 529 sequences of 10+ passes in open play this season, while opponents Wycombe had a league-low total of just 19 such sequences.
– On the final day of the regular League One season, MK Dons’ Scott Twine (22y 290d) became the youngest player to score 4+ goals in an English Football League match since Tammy Abraham for Aston Villa against Nottingham Forest in November 2018 (21y 57d). In fact, Twine was the only player in League One to register double figures for both goals and assists in 2021-22 (20 goals, 13 assists).
Sunderland v Sheffield Wednesday
– Both League One matches between Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday this season were won by the home side (5-0 at the Stadium of Light and 3-0 at Hillsborough). The Black Cats and the Owls last met three times in the same campaign back in 1971-72.
– Overall, this will be the 126th meeting in all competitions between Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday, with the Black Cats edging the head-to-head record by 49 wins to 48 (28 draws). Should Sunderland win, they’ll record their 50th win over a side for the first time since December 2014 against Newcastle.
– Sunderland and Sheffield Wednesday have never before met in the month of May in any competition, with their previous latest meetings in a season coming in 1910 and 1930 (both 30th April) and won by the Owls. This game will be the 10th different calendar month to see these two sides meet.
– Sunderland are appearing in their seventh different play-off campaign (1987, 1990, 1998, 2004, 2019, 2021), though have only managed to gain promotion in one of those seasons, despite losing in the final to Swindon in 1990. The Black Cats were awarded promotion despite a 1-0 defeat due to Swindon’s demotion, in what was the first season that the play-off final encounters were held over a single leg and at Wembley Stadium.
– This will be Sheffield Wednesday’s fourth play-off campaign in the English Football League, and first at the third-tier level since they gained promotion under Paul Sturrock back in 2004-05. The Owls are however winless in their last four play-off matches (D3 L1), losing at the semi-final stage on penalties most recently to Huddersfield in the Championship.
– Since Alex Neil’s first league game in charge on February 12th, Sunderland lost fewer games than any other League One side (W8 D6 L1). Indeed, no Sunderland manager has lost fewer times in their first 15 league games in charge than Neil (level with Jack Ross).
– Only promoted pair Wigan Athletic (30) and Rotherham United (30) have scored more goals via set pieces (inc. penalties) in the League One this season than Sunderland (27). No side has had more different goalscorers (exc. own goals) in League One this term than Sheffield Wednesday (20).
– In 2021-22, no Sheffield Wednesday player had a hand in more League One goals (21 – 9 goals, 12 assists), created more goalscoring chances (123), completed more passes (1921) and won possession back more often (300) than Barry Bannan.
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