One AFC Wimbledon factor can deny Walsall saving themselves from 2024/25 embarrassment | OneFootball

AFC Wimbledon go into the play-off final as underdogs, can this help them stop Walsall from saving their season?

It's between AFC Wimbledon and Walsall to fight it out for the last remaining spot in League One next year.

And while it would be a welcome, positive end to the season for the Dons, it would mean a lot more to Walsall to achieve a win at Wembley, as ultimately it would save their season.

Having led the league for so long this campaign, an awful run of results in this second half of the season, and a final day denial of an automatic spot despite a win, meant they had to go through the play-offs. And now, having won their two-legged semi-final, they are one victory away from finishing what they set out to accomplish.

But can Wimbledon's underdog status in this match-up stop that happening and deny the Saddlers their saving grace?

2024/25 has been a very mixed bag for Walsall

It really has been a season of two dramatically different halves for the Midlands-based side, with all the positives seemingly coming in the first half of the season.

Driven by the enigmatic Nathan Lowe, on loan from Stoke City, and his 15 goals in League Two, all scored before January, the Saddlers would start the winter transfer window far ahead of all other opposition, sitting as clear as 18 points ahead at one point.

However, Lowe would get recalled by his parent club, and despite investment in the window from those in charge at the club, Walsall would then set off on a truly abysmal run of form.

From the last weekend in January, until the end of the regular season, a span of 21 matches, the Saddlers would only muster three wins, and a total of 19 points. Diving deeper, that measly tally means that over two-thirds of their points total for the campaign were collected in the first half of the season, and shows the second half could not have gone any worse.

The club could not have fallen any harder from such a strong position, and as such, make themselves the clear favourites for the win at Wembley over the bank holiday weekend.

Having scored more goals and ultimately looking like the more creative side on the eye throughout a lot of the season, it is hard to deny the Saddlers the fact that if they manage the occasion well enough, they will go on to triumph.

But is there a case that their opposition, in the form of Wimbledon, perhaps could use their billing in this fixture as the underdog to their advantage?

Underdog status will only benefit AFC Wimbledon

Before speaking about the Dons' status as underdogs, it has to be said that they are there on merit, having stood firm and remained defensively solid against a Notts County side, over the play-off semis, that contains the likes of Jodi Jones and David McGoldrick, two of the division's more creative sparks.

And before the lottery of the play-offs began, the Dons had the best defensive record in the division, proving that they are not in the position they are through just luck, as the work on getting the defensive side of the team much stronger is evident and has proved to be a worthwhile development.

So why exactly will Wimbledon be happy with their underdog status, and why will it only ever be a positive for them?

Well to begin, it all comes down to the ethos of the club. AFC Wimbledon are the spiritual continuation of Wimbledon FC, and the feeling of always being the underdog and having to go through the tough things to experience success has always run in the blood.

Then looking more into history, not only this season, but stretching back to the last time Wimbledon found themselves in a play-off final, the Dons have been written off before but performed well to show they are not as weak as some see them.

At the start of the 24/25 campaign, many felt the Dons may have had the power to begin the season well, but would have fallen away at the end to finish at the top end of mid-table. And as admitted by the club themselves, the Dons did extremely well this season to outperform a budget that would have placed them in and around the mid-table point.

Then, looking back to that 2016 final just mentioned, the Dons came up against a Plymouth Argyle side that had beaten them twice that season over three games, with the Dons winning the other. Many felt that a Pilgrims side filled with some of the finer talents in League Two would be too strong for what some would call a 'rag-tag' team of EFL stalwarts and rejects.

But that could not have been further from the truth, as Wimbledon would play their cards so perfectly that Argyle did not threaten too much, and the Dons would score two memorable goals to seal a victory that continued their ascent up the footballing ladder.

So to bring things full circle, back to present times, it is only fair to say that Walsall will likely go into this fixture as firm favourites to save themselves from embarrassment, but be warned, Wimbledon know how to play the role of David when it comes to defeating Goliath, and could just come out on top to prove all doubters wrong.