The annual enthralling final day of the Championship season is upon us, and as usual, there’s plenty to play for, so here’s a guide to who can still be promoted, who needs what to avoid relegation, and who will make the play-offs.
By Dharnish Iqbal
Automatic Promotion
Leicester City are home and dry, promoted back to the Premier League as Champions under Enzo Maresca.
And Ipswich Town all but secured the second automatic promotion place with a win away at Coventry this past Tuesday. Kieran Mckenna’s side just need to avoid defeat at home to Huddersfield Town, on Saturday, a side who will almost certainly face relegation.
Leeds United are waiting in the wings for any slip ups at Ipswich, but to stand a chance of stealing the second automatic promotion place, they need to beat fourth placed Southampton and Huddersfield to win at Ipswich. The Yorkshire club would then be promoted on goal difference.
The tension for Ipswich has been palpable with three draws in the build-up to the win over Coventry, with that game ending in a nail-biting eleven minutes of stoppage time added on.
Energised by the stunning job Mckenna has done, Ipswich could secure historic back-to-back automatic promotions, but the job isn’t finished yet with Huddersfield Town manager Andre Breitenreiter insisting they will ‘give our best till the end.’ The prospect of Huddersfield helping local rivals Leeds earn promotion is certainly an intriguing story.
But for whichever side does miss out, there’s the consolation of third place, and a play-off semi-final against the eventual sixth place finishers in the table.
Key Fixtures:
Ipswich Town vs Huddersfield Town, Leeds United vs Southampton
The Play-offs
And while Southampton still have a role to play in the automatic promotion picture, they are themselves, guaranteed a fourth place finish. And they’ll be preparing themselves for a play-off run. What remains a mystery is who they will come up against in the two-legged semi-finals.
Norwich City, West Bromwich Albion, and Hull City are the sides battling it out for the two-remaining play off spots but even if Norwich were to lose their final game they’re all but guaranteed a play-off spot.
Hull would need to beat Plymouth by eight goals, Norwich would have to lose, and West Brom would also have to win in order for Norwich to miss out.
In essence, it’s more of a face-off between West Brom and Hull. A point for the Baggies should be enough for the play-offs as once again, they can boast a vastly superior goal difference.
However, if Carlos Corberan’s side lose at home to Preston North End and Hull were to win away at Plymouth Argyle, Hull can leapfrog West Brom to take sixth position.
The Baggies have only won once in their last seven, but Corberan will be determined to have another crack at the play-offs having failed with Huddersfield in the 2021/22 season when they lost to Nottingham Forest in the Wembley final.
Hull, meanwhile, have peaked at the right team under Liam Rosenior – they’re unbeaten in six and will be looking to cause a commotion on the final day.
Similarly, if Norwich were to lose away to Birmingham and West Brom win, it would be West Brom facing off against Southampton and the Canaries playing whoever finishes third – Leeds or Ipswich.
Key Fixtures:
Birmingham City vs Norwich City, Plymouth Argyle vs. Hull City, West Bromwich Albion vs. Preston North End
Relegation to League One
What makes the relegation battle so enthralling is that the sides directly involved may also have a say in who makes the play-offs.
Rotherham United remain the only side officially relegated. Huddersfield need a miracle to stay up and as mentioned, are as good as gone. They require defeats for Plymouth and Birmingham, themselves to beat Ipswich and a 16 goal swing between themselves and Plymouth and a 11 goal swing with the Blues.
Birmingham need to beat Norwich at home to have any chance of surviving. However, the scenarios if they win are made plausible due to the teams that are playing Birmingham’s relegation rivals.
If Birmingham beat Norwich they can stay up if: Plymouth lose or draw to Hull, Sheffield Wednesday lose away at Sunderland (Birmingham would stay up on goal difference), or if Blackburn lose to Leicester City.
It all hinges on whether the Blues can get the victory they need vs. Norwich but neither Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday, or Blackburn are safe.
A point would be enough for Wednesday and Blackburn to guarantee their safety but defeat would throw the final day into chaos with all eyes frantically following events at Birmingham’s St. Andrews ground.
For Plymouth, the situation is simple – they will go down if they fail to win and Birmingham do.
It is going to be a fabulously engaging final day at the bottom, with scenarios and positions in the table changing in real time according to events unfolding at each ground. The perfect day to use the ‘short table’ feature in your FotMob app.
Key Fixtures:
Birmingham City vs Norwich City, Leicester City vs. Blackburn Rovers, Plymouth Argyle vs Hull City, Sunderland vs. Sheffield Wednesday
(Images from IMAGO)
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