4 things to look out for in the EFL Play-Off Finals

Six teams, three finals, one weekend: the EFL play-offs reach their dramatic crescendo.

5:20 AM…

…or thereabouts. That’s when the jangling nerves start waking me, and the underlying data on this week’s sleep quality is, frankly, horrific. If you also support a team in the play-off finals, I hope you’re managing the stresses better.

For the neutral, what a lark - we’ve reached the crescendo! All crescendos come at the end, of course they do. What’s less predictable are the pitch and timbre. And that’s why today, we’re taking the tuning fork to test the tone of the final three tracks on this EFL album. Here are four things to look out for ahead of the play-off finals.

1. Fewest passes? Completed it mate…

George Elek

Luton will feel like they did a deal with the devil when securing their promotion to the Premier League through the play-offs in 22/23, given what's happened since. The fact that they did so when completing just 666 passes across the three play-off games may lend credence to that idea.

This was the fewest number of any promoted side since records began (in 2015; come on OPTA). And it was the fewest despite having played an extra 30 minutes in the final against Coventry, at an average of just 2.22 passes per minute. A record that surely would never be beaten.