M7 come into finals night as the favourites to lift the trophy, and it’s hard to argue with that seeing as they topped the league phase rankings - losing just two of their 11 matches during the season.

They take on a Wembley Rangers side who squeezed into the final four on the final day of the league season, beating out the likes of 26ers and N5 - who had both been more consistent throughout the season - to book their spot at the Copper Box Arena.

M7 have won both of the previous head to head meetings between the sides, including the clash between the teams this season which saw Miniminter’s team come away 3-1 winners. We should have had a few more goals in that contest with there being 44 match shots and 20 match shots on target.

I think we’ll get an exciting semi final here that goes in a similar direction of the most recent head to head clash, with M7 finding a way to come through the tie and book their spot in the final. Only NDL (46) scored more goals than M7 (44) in the league phase of Baller League, so I'm confident of a high goal count here and M7 progressing through to the final.

I think this the more difficult semi final to call of the two ties, but it’s set up perfectly to be a high scoring affair. NDL finished the league phase in second place, which is some achievement considering that they were one of the new teams introduced to Baller League this season. They also ended the league campaign as top scorers with 46 goals.

They take on an SDS side who are looking to defend their crown with a personal grudge match taking place in the dugouts. Niko Omilana, manager of NDL, and Sharky, manager of SDS are long term friends and are in the same circle - adding an extra layer of tension to this semi final contest.

We’d be looking for a slight increase in the goal numbers that both of these sides have posted throughout the league season, but we got that in the most recent head to head clash which produced 10 goals as SDS ran out 6-4 winners over NDL. 

That game saw five goals in the final five minutes of the match, showing the advantage of backing goals in Baller League as the right game changer at the end of a match can really tilt the scales in our favour when it comes to goals.

M7 come into the final four as the favourites to lift the trophy at the showpiece event, taking place at the Copper Box Arena. They’re deserved favourites having finished top of the league phase, winning six of their 11 matches and only losing two games.

They got the better of Wembley Rangers and NDL during the league phase campaign, and only narrowly lost out against SDS in a 5-4 thriller. SDS are the only side that have managed to get to back to back playoffs, but don’t look as assured as they did last term on their way to lifting the trophy.

The outright field is quite tight with SDS seen as the outsiders at 4.0, so there isn’t much to split the four sides. With the margins being so fine, M7 having a positive head to head record against the likes of NDL and Wembley Rangers, as well as being the second top scorers in the league phase (44) sets them up well to claim the trophy on the 11th January.

M7 also have the easier of the two semi finals in that they avoid both NDL and SDS, who will offer them more of a challenge than Wembley Rangers - who only qualified for the playoffs thanks to a late season burst after being quite average for large parts of the campaign. M7 should be able to battle past Wembley Rangers which can give them confidence in an intriguing final against either SDS or NDL.