The Welsh side haven’t been in the top flight since 1983 and have been down to the bottom rung of the football league pyramid since then. However, they are a club on the rise and with promotion from League One in 2008 coinciding with the opening of their new stadium, they look set for a very bright future.

They are managed by former Jose Mourinho protégé Brendan Rodgers, who had an unsuccessful stint in charge at the Madjeski Stadium. However, he has bounced back and the Swans have been in the play-offs all season.

They play a superb brand of attacking football which always provides goals. They have also been impressive defensively this season, conceding only 42 goals throughout their 46 league games, giving them the second tightest defence in the division.

One of their star players is former Chelsea youngster Scott Sinclair whose mazy dribbling and goals from midfield have been an integral part of Swansea’s push for promotion.

The winger has scored 19 goals this season and he could be the difference as the Swans look to seal promotion (Sinclair 11/2 to be first goalscorer).

Reading are truly a team in form and incredibly were sat in 12th position in the middle of February. Since then, they proceeded to go on an incredible run, with eight straight victories sealing their place in the play-offs (Reading 17/10 to win in 90 minutes).

The Berkshire side were relegated from the Premier League in 2008 but have bounced back under coach Brian McDermott and have been superb in the second half of the season.

The Royals have kept five clean sheets in their last eight matches and with talismanic captain Matthew Mills marshalling the defence, they always look solid.

However, it’s at the other end that they’ve been hitting the headlines with Irish international striker Shane Long netting 25 times this season. He was instrumental in his side’s play-off semi-final victory against Cardiff, scoring twice, and only Danny Graham has scored more times in the Championship this season (Long 5/1 to score the first goal).

The game has all the ingredients of a real classic. Championship play-offs are traditionally cagey affairs but after Blackpool’s thrilling 3-2 victory over Cardiff last time around, this could all change. Both sides have superb attackers with the ability to trouble anyone and for the neutral it could be an absolute thriller.

However, due to their form, Reading could be a top flight side on Monday evening.

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Schalke

Former Ajax and Real Madrid hitman Huntelaar scored seven goals in Serie A last season, but admitted he had to leave AC Milan after they brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic in on a season-long loan.

Huntelaar said: “It is true I never wanted to leave Milan but that changed when Zlatan Ibrahimovic came from Barcelona.”

Schalke boss Felix Magath told Bild: “Negotiations were tougher than expected. I am happy to have Klaas-Jan. He will help us.”

The Gelsenkirchen outfit were pipped to the Bundesliga trophy last term by Bayern Munich and are desperate to end a 52-year wait for the title, having finished runners-up previously in 2001, 2005 and 2007. But Magath’s side have made a poor start to the season and sit in 15th place after two matches of the season.

After defensive blunders cost the Royal Blues dearly in the 2-1 home defeat to Hannover on Saturday, Magath has been forced into the transfer market for a third time before the deadline.

Despite previously stating that he didn’t need any defenders, he is splashing out on Lille centre back Nicolas Plestan. Schalke had already invested heavily in signing Christophe Metzelder and Raul from Real Madrid.

Bayern (1/2) have been relatively quiet in the transfer market, concentrating on keeping together the squad that reached the Champions League final and claimed the domestic double.

Hamburg (9/1) have started the season well, despite losing defender Jerome Boateng to Manchester City, while Werder Bremen (11/1) could not hold onto playmaker Mesut Ozil.

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