Play-off preview: Huddersfield, Reading meet in £290M promotion wrangle

It's called the most lucrative match in football. Should Premier League safety be secured next season by the winner of Monday's play-off final, it will earn as much as £290 million over the next three seasons.

Either that, or another trip to Burton Albion is pencilled into the calendar for the 2017-18 term.

Huddersfield Town and Reading meet at Wembley to vie for an ascent to English football's promised land, and both have convincing arguments for deserving a spot in the Premier League.

The Terriers from the north haven't been in the top flight since 1972, but under manager David Wagner have put together frenetic, unpredictable football that would enhance the Premier League. The Royals from the south, meanwhile, are overseen by ex-Manchester United defender Jaap Stam, and feature many names well attuned to life in the second tier, but that have had scant opportunities higher up.

Who will swap the second rung for life at the top?

Injuries and suspensions

"Apart from the long-term injuries (Philip Billing and Jon Gorenc Stankovic) everyone is available," Wagner told The Huddersfield Daily Examiner's Mel Booth, indicating there could be involvement for Elias Kachunga and long-term absentee Kasey Palmer. Harry Bunn is available after suspension.

Paul McShane will serve the second game of his three-match ban for a reckless challenge on Fulham's Kevin McDonald in the first leg of the semi-finals. There are no disclosed injury problems for Reading.

Projected lineups

Huddersfield Town starting XI: Ward; Smith, Hefele, Schindler, Lowe; Hogg, Mooy; Kachunga, Brown, Van La Parra; Wells

Reading starting XI: Al-Habsi; Ilori, Moore, Van den Berg; Gunter, Evans, Swift, Williams, Blackett; Kermogant, Grabban

What to watch

It's time for Yann Kermorgant to exorcise some demons.

The Frenchman has been a Championship mainstay since 2009, but much of his second-tier residency is defined by his pathetic Panenka penalty for Leicester City in his first season.

The forward was given the fourth kick of a penalty shootout against Cardiff City in the 2010 Championship play-off semi-finals, but his ill-advised chip was easily corralled by David Marshall, and preceded Martyn Waghorn's fluffed effort. The Foxes were denied a play-off final, and Kermorgant was the villain.

He's now 35, and spearheads Reading's forward forays. No team in the top six has scored less goals from open play than the Royals, so their final berth is down to their adeptness at set pieces. Kermorgant's strength regularly sees him under these deliveries, and it's an area where Huddersfield has been susceptible. Don't expect Reading to play corners short - Stam's lot will loft them in the direction of the veteran frontman.

It's quite surprising that Reading has reached this stage. Stam's methods are still being adopted - he favours a possession-based approach - but over the 46 matches of the regular season, the Royals weren't entirely convincing and churned out results. If they make it to the Premier League, it's difficult to envision survival unless wholesale changes are made to the playing personnel. Kermorgant, Garath McCleary, Lewis Grabban, and many others in the squad are simply not top-tier standard.

The job Stam has done, though - Reading finished 17th last season under Brian McDermott - is commendable, and he's vowed to stay at the helm in 2017-18.

"We're going to take risks, but defend well as well. We're not going to change everything that has worked for us this season," Stam told the club website.

Huddersfield finished two places below Reading in the previous term, and considering its frantic football, it's surprising there's still fuel left in the tank. Wagner has molded an entertaining and unpredictable side which was the only team in the top 11 to finish the regular campaign with a negative goal difference.

Plenty of his ranks were rested before the semi-final double-header against Yorkshire foe Sheffield Wednesday, so his squad will be fresh, and the German boss will give creative license to Aaron Mooy and the widemen - Kachunga is the club's top scorer in 2016-17 - to try and hatch ways to breach a dogged Reading.

Considering Wagner's gegenpressing approach (honed from his time overseeing Borussia Dortmund's reserve side under first-team handler Jurgen Klopp), Reading's defence can expect a busy afternoon. The Terriers will swarm what is likely to be back-three, and should retain width throughout in a bid to distort Reading's shape and exploit space behind Chris Gunter and Tyler Blackett.

Both meetings between Huddersfield and Reading were even affairs and, perhaps unfortunately given the narrow and turgid outings in recent play-off finals, low-scoring. Stam noted Monday's opponents "like to play in a similar way," hence the two sides possibly cancelling each other out.

It's doubtful that this will be a classic play-off showpiece harkening back to Sunderland and Charlton Athletic's 4-4 draw in 1998, but it promises to be a close and captivating tilt between two managers fronting the new breed of tactically astute foreign gaffers in the Championship.

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)