A look at Aston Villa’s record against potential playoff foes

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Aston Villa will come up against some of the Championship’s elite in the playoffs.

With just 180 minutes remaining for many teams in the Championship this season it’s time to start looking ahead to everyone’s favourite time of the year – the playoffs. Four teams will battle it out for the right to play in the Premier League next season, and while Aston Villa may still be in the running for the automatic spots, the odds suggest that they’ll be playing in the knockout system in a few weeks time. With that in mind, it’s time to take a look at the contenders they could be squaring off against.

For the sake of this piece, we’ll assume that Cardiff defeat Derby tonight and go on to gain the second automatic promotion spot, even though it’s still entirely up for grabs. For what it’s worth, however, they lost 3-0 to the Welsh side back in August and defeated them 1-0 at Villa Park just a few weeks ago.

Fulham – A 2-1 victory over the Cottagers in October gave cause for optimism, but that was before the Londoners got into their next gear. In the reverse fixture, Fulham eased to a 2-0 triumph.

Middlesbrough – Don’t expect the most entertaining of showdowns if these two square off, with this season’s results being a dull 0-0 draw and a narrow 1-0 win for Villa, with both games taking place in 2017.

Millwall – Villa couldn’t break Millwall down at Villa Park in a 0-0 draw, with the return game taking place on the final day of the regular season.

Derby – While Derby are on a downward slope, the only game between these two ended in a 2-1 win for the Rams. Now, their game this weekend is more important than ever.

Brentford – Brentford are quietly sneaking up on the top six, and they’ll have their eyes set on Villa with a goalless draw and a 2-1 win over Steve Bruce’s side during the campaign.

Preston – The odds aren’t in Preston’s favour, although they fought Villa close this season with the Midlands side coming out 2-0 winners away from home before drawing 1-1 at Villa Park.

Bristol City – The 1-1 draw in August wasn’t much to write home about, but Villa’s 5-0 win on New Year’s Day will offer them plenty of reasons to be optimistic.

Sheffield United – It’d take a miracle for them to qualify, but Villa shouldn’t be too concerned either way with a 2-2 draw and a 1-0 win over the Blades.