There is more to English Football than the Premier League, shocking, we know. But the reality is that the UK and the rest of the world just focus on the English Premier League. We forget about the English Football League championship, including League One and League Two Divisions. The English Premier League does not have any play-offs, just a straightforward points system. We believe the real heart and competitive spirit are found in the English Football Championship play-offs.
The EFL play-offs are normally played from March to May; it differs from season to season. Even though there is no monetary prize in the play-offs, it is still regarded as one of the most important events and the championship cup is highly contested. The final play-off winner is promoted to the English Premier League, and the loser remains in the Championship.
Not only that, but the bottom three clubs drop down a league, so the battle is real. This makes the top six positions the most coveted places, and those who get there early in the season need to fight to stay there. The odds are always on those who strike out early, and you can use the new Scores Prediction Game – Pick6 to check if your bets are on the right track.
After all, this is still English football, and anything is possible, so just because a team is in 10th place, it doesn’t mean they can’t sneak into the 6th position with just two games left.
The current table
Team Matches Points
Fulham 40 83
Bournemouth 39 73
Nottingham Forest 39 67
Huddersfield Town 40 66
Luton Town 40 65
Sheffield United 41 65
Fulham is the front runner and has made a big gap for themselves with 83 points, 10 points ahead of their chasers Bournemouth and 18 points ahead of Sheffield United in 6th position. It will be Fulham in the final; if they keep up their current performance and remain with a low injury count, who their opponents will be is still up for grabs.
Bournemouth has had a good run-up; they played to a goalless draw with Sheffield and beat Huddersfield 3 – 0 before that. Blackburn Rovers, Coventry City, and Queens Park Rangers are clinging on. With luck and exceptional playing, they could bump off a few teams and sneak into the coveted top 6.
Blackburn Rovers are now out of the top six but could still slip back in if they could get their playing form right. Their inconsistency has landed them here; they played a terrific game against Derby only to lose to Reading the following week. They drew when it should have been a clean-cut win against 16th-ranked Blackpool. On 30th April, they will face a formidable Bournemouth, who will undoubtedly give them a difficult game with the odds being in Bournemouth’s favour. To counter the possibility of a loss against Bournemouth, they should win their upcoming games with 2 – 0; whether or not Preston and Stoke City will allow that is another story.
Speaking of the Potters, they made some impressive acquisitions in the form of Josh Maja and Liam Moore during the previous window period in January. So it is with surprise and disappointment to see them so low in the championship table. Sitting at number 15 with just 55 points, the chances of passing 7 teams to make it to the sixth position are slim. With the history of Stoke City sacking managers, Michael O’Neill may find his head on the chopping block come June. Despite their lacklustre performance in the league, we hope they will put up a fight against Bristol and Blackburn Rovers.
Millwall are still contenders and should not be written off too quickly; sitting at 61 points, just six points behind Nottingham Forest (5th position), they can sneak into the top six. With an impressive 4 -1 win over Barnsley, they have the right spirit to take on Preston (15th April) and Hull City (18th April).
Coventry City is the dark horse to watch for despite losing to Fulham; Mark Robin’s boys are in good form. Now that Kelly, McFadzen and Jones are back and available for play this coming weekend, things are looking up for them.
Our Verdict
We will all be watching on 29th May 2022 to see who will be the new champions of the English Football League. Before then, though, the Easter weekend will be a deciding day for many teams in the Championship.
Practically every team has a game on the four-day weekend. It would take bad luck and lousy playing to topple Fulham at this point. The other five positions are still up in the air, and we will watch with bated breath to see if Rovers can make the climb up and sneak into the play-offs.
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