Dean Smith’s side are slight favourites to trump Frank Lampard’s Rams in a Wembley encounter where the prize of the Premier League awaits the winner
Aston Villa and Derby County head to London on Monday as they prepare for one of the biggest games in English football, the Championship play-off final.
Dean Smith’s Villans and Frank Lampard’s Rams will square off for a chance to join Norwich City and Sheffield United in ascending to the Premier League next season.
The former required a penalty shoot-out win over West Brom to reach Wembley while the latter made history with a 4-2 victory over Leeds United.
On the largest stage of all though, who will turn up triumphant to seal their place in the top tier for 2019-20?
| Game | Aston Villa vs Derby County |
| Date | Monday, May 27 |
| Time | 3:00pm BST / 10:00am EST |
In the United States (US), the game will not be broadcast, but can be streamed via ESPN+.
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| US TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| N/A | ESPN+ |
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will be shown on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Football and can be streamed through the Sky Go app.
| UK TV channel | Online stream |
|---|---|
| Sky Sports Main Event / Sky Sports Football | Sky Go |
| Position | Aston Villa squad |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Steer, Kalinic, Bunn |
| Defenders | Taylor, Chester, Hutton, Elphick, Hause, Revan, Mings, Tuanzebe |
| Midfielders | Whelan, McGinn, Lansbury, Grealish, Carroll, Hourihane, Jedinak, Davis, Bjarnason, Elmohamady, Adomah, Ramsey, Lyden |
| Forwards | Abraham, Green, Kodjia, El Ghazi |
Dean Smith had been sweating on the fitness of Axel Tuanzebe ahead of the trip to Wembley after he was forced to limp off against West Brom last time out.
Mile Jedinak replaced him on the night at the Hawthorns, but the Manchester United loaneee is fit enough for a starting berth.
Aston Villa starting XI: Steer; Elmohamady, Tuanzebe, Mings, Taylor; McGinn, Hourihane, Adomah, El Ghazi, Grealish; Abraham.
Subs: Kalinic, Hause, Jedinak, Whelan, Lansbury, Green, Kodja.
| Position | Derby County players |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Carson, Roos |
| Defenders | Tomori, Keogh, Ambrose, Boggle, Wisdom, Cole |
| Midfielders | Huddlestone, Evans, Johnson, Holmes, Anya, Mount |
| Forwards | Lawrence, Wilson, Bennett, Waghorn, Nugent, Marriott, Jozefzoon |
Frank Lampard’s Rams defied the odds and helped heap unwanted history in their 4-2 victory over Leeds, finally getting the better of the Whites at the fourth attempt this season.
Scott Malone however is banned due to a late red card, meaning that Lampard’s former Chelsea team-mate Ashley Cole gets a start.
Derby County starting XI: Roos; Bogle, Keogh, Tomori, Cole; Huddlestone, Johnson; Wilson, Mount, Lawrence; Bennett.
Subs: Carson, Waghorn, Jozefzoon, Marriott, Evans, Macdonald, Knight.
Aston Villa are the marginal favourites to win this game, priced at 5/4 by bet365. Derby can be backed at 13/5, while the draw is on offer at 23/10.
Click here to see more offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Heading into the first legs of the Championship play-off semi-finals earlier this month, there would have been good odds on Aston Villa and Derby County squaring off at Wembley come the final.
The Villans had been in sensational form compared to opponents West Brom but having failed to get the better of their Midlands rivals on both previous occasions during the season, looked to be the outsiders.
Likewise the Rams, whose two stinging defeats at the hands of Leeds United – coupled with the Whites having led the race for automatic promotion until the final few weeks of the campaign – marked them out as an arguable long shot.
Yet here they are, 90 minutes – or maybe more – away from a place in the Premier League as they look to ascend to the top tier of English football alongside champions Norwich City and second-place Sheffield United.
There will be a curious Chelsea reunion too as Villa assistant boss John Terry faces off against team-mate Frank Lampard, who is in charge of County, while Dean Smith’s side are likely to have been practicing their penalties again after ensuring that they did so ahead of facing the Baggies, when they nabbed a shoot-out victory.
Both are seeking a return in some form to the top flight with Derby looking to end a decade-plus exodus, having last competed in the 2007-08 season, where they finished bottom in their first campaign back.
Villa meanwhile are hoping to curtail their two-year stay in the second division, having been relegated in 2016 after featuring in every previous Premier League season.
Whoever seals promotion will not only pick up the honour of establishing themselves once more at the high table however, as they also look set to pick up a substansial windfall.
Estimates roughly put each side in the top flight in line to earn a base line of roughly £82.5m ($104.4m) per team, regardless of their ultimate finish next season.
The sheer financial boost handed to the winner will be an added boon to helping whichever side wins avoid an immediate return in 2019-20.