Hull moved into the final of the Play-Offs after a 6 v 1 demolition of Watford. Aided admittedly by the referee in the first leg, Hull showed they deserved the spot after they came from a goal down in the home leg to win 4 v 1 and book their date with Bristol City who won 2 v 1 at Ashton Gate to complete a double over Palace after they achieved the same result in the first leg at Selhurst Park.

Who will win the Play-Offs?
( polls)

Barring a turn of events that wouldn’t fool even the most gullible, West Brom are up. Stoke, level on points with the Baggies have a vastly inferior goal difference so need to better West Brom’s result if they are to snatch the Championship away from them. Hull are the only team who can spoil the two-team party. With a better goal difference than the Potters, Hull lie three points behind and must rely on Tony Pullis’ team to lose at home to Leicester while also beating Ipswich away themselves.

Bristol City are safe in the play-offs but could finish anywhere from fourth to sixth. No-one will want to be finishing sixth as they’ll play Stoke or Hull in the play-offs, so City still have some work to do.

Watford and Crystal Palace currently the last two play-off places but both could be displaced by Wolves, Ipswich or Sheff Utd who face Plymouth at home, Ipswich at home and Southampton away respectively.

Prediction: West Brom to win the title, Stoke to go up in second. Hull and Bristol to go into the play-offs as third and fourth placed respectively. And the shocker: Crystal Palace and Wolves to push Watford out of the playoffs after Watford only manage a draw at Blackpool, Wolves beat Plymouth 3 v 0 and Crystal Palace defeat Burnley.

Relegation worries

At the bottom Blackpool, Coventry, Sheff Wed, Leicester and Southampton could all fill the final relegation spot. The Saints have by far and away the worst goal difference, followed by Coventry. Leicester have possibly the hardest match as they travel to Stoke but Blackpool must also take on Watford at home, Coventry visit Charlton, and Southampton host Sheff Utd. Sheff Wed have waht appears to be the easiest with Norwich the visitors to Hillsborough.

Prediction: Southampton to follow Scunthorpe and Colchester through the trap-door to League One.

The Matches in Full:

Sunday, 04 May 2008 at 2pm BST

Blackpool v Watford
Bristol City v Preston
Cardiff v Barnsley
Charlton v Coventry
Crystal Palace v Burnley
Ipswich v Hull
QPR v West Brom
Scunthorpe v Colchester
Sheff Wed v Norwich
Southampton v Sheff Utd
Stoke v Leicester
Wolverhampton v Plymouth

Scunthorpe’s 2 v 0 loss away at Crystal Palace over the weekend confirmed their relegation from the Championship; joining Colchester as the teams confirmed for the drop this season. That just leaves one place in the trap-door to League One, so who will fill it?

Sheff Wednesday currently sit in 22nd place, level on points with Leicester, but having played one game less; that match is at home to Plymouth on Monday night. A win for the Owls would take them up to 18th place; above Blackpool, Southampton and Coventry who are all still scrapping away to avoid the drop.

Blackpool have not won in eight matches and have what can only be described as a bloody tough run-in with fixtures at home to Sheffield Wednesday and Watford, and away to Plymouth. Southampton, who have the worst goal-difference of any of the teams battling relegation, still have to play West Brom away and meet Burnley and Sheffield United at home. The Saints have won one in their last five matches.

Coventry, who have not won away in the league since a 4 v 2 win at West Brom in early December, will be worried that two of their remaining three matches are away from home. They may fancy their chances at relegated Colchester but finish their season at home to promotion chasing Wolves and away on their last day to Charlton.

Leicester’s yo-yo form continues and they need to find some continuity if they are to avoid the drop as they travel to Barnsley and table-topping Stoke as well as meeting Sheffield Wednesday at home. Alongside the pre-mentioned fixtures against Leicester and Plymouth, Sheffield Wednesday also travel to Blackpool and face Norwich at Hillsborough on the last day of the season. The Owls aren’t losing at least; drawing their last six matches. That and the match in hand may help them stay up.

Barnsley and Norwich are also still in there but seem to have enough of a gap between themselves and the relegation zone to feel a little safe. But who do you think will go down?

Photo courtesy of Scunthorpe United FC

“Two people in the vicinity of the Watford dug out on Saturday (22nd March) will be banned indefinitely from all Plymouth Argyle home games for making racist remarks towards Watford players and officials during the 1-1 Coca Cola Championship draw”, the club said in a statement today.

The statement also confirmed that Plymouth will put an exclusion zone behind the Vistor’s dug-out to prevent further incidents of the kind witnessed in the recent match.

So is racism a problem in the Championship? What are people’s experiences of racism in football?

Leicester bounced back from recent results with an impressive 4 v 1 hammering of West Brom at the Hawthorns. Bristol City suffered their curse of not scoring enough goals as they were beat 2 v 1 at home by Plymouth. Hull put five goals past Southampton without reply whilst Wolves went to Burnley and won 3 v 1. But which was the biggest achievement?

Following on from Adriano Basso claiming to have saved a penalty after god told him which way to dive, Ian Holloway has discovered the key to improving Leicester City’s form. Interviewed for the BBC in his weekly column, Holloway was advised by a reader “I think its about time you got rid of the lucky guitar pick I gave to you!”. The Leicester manager responded “I know exactly where it is and I’ll do that when I get home. I’m going to bin the ‘lucky’ guitar pick so let’s see what happens against West Brom.”

The result for Leicester, who had not won in three and had slipped into the relegation zone, away at fourth placed West Brom? 4 v 1 to the Foxes!

Photo from BBC Sport

Second play third in the big match of this weekend as Stoke travel to Watford. Both have been in a mixed run of form with the Potters managing a defeat, draw and a victory in their last three matches while the Hornets haven’t lost in five but also haven’t won.

Bristol v Plymouth

If results go right for them Fellow automatic promotion hopefuls Bristol City could move four points clear at the top as they host Plymouth, with the Robins looking for their first to turn their recent run of three draws into a victory and the Pilgrims looking for a goalie.

Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers

Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers meet at Turf Moor knowing that a win for the Clarets would push them into the play-off places and a victory for Wolves would take them within touching distance.

Coventry v Sheffield Wednesday

Twentieth play twenty-first as Coventry face Sheff Wednesday in a match both desperately need to win. The Owls have won their last two whilst the Sky Blues are looking for revenge after losing 2 v 1 in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Sheffield have recently signed Portsmouth winger Franck Songo’o on a month’s loan.

Hull v Southampton

Hull, looking to consolidate their place in the top six, face an in-form Southampton side who have drawn four and won one of their last five matches. The Saints have recently signed former England international Michael Ricketts on loan whilst the Tigers have top-scorer Dean Windass back in contention after missing the last seven games having been forced to have surgery on a troublesome knee complaint.

Crystal Palace v Barnsley

FA Cup giant-killers Barnsley travel to Selhurst Park hoping to ease their relegation fears. The Tykes are only five points from the relegation zone and they face a Palace side still in contention for the play-offs; the Eagles sit just two points off sixth.

Ipswich v Charlton

Ipswich, another side still in the hunt for promotion, host Charlton, a team looking for some consistency as they seek to defend their place in fifth. The Addicks have lost the last two games whilst Tractor Boys look to bounce back after their 4 v 1 thumping at Barnsley in mid-week.

QPR v Scunthorpe

Second-from-bottom Scunthorpe travel south to face mid-table QPR. The Iron sit four points off safety while the R’s couldn’t be much more central; they find themselves eight points off the play-offs and seven points off the relegation spots.

Sheffield Utd v Norwich

Neither Sheff Utd nor Norwich are yet safe in the Championship with United sitting six points and Norwich, five points, from twenty-second spot. The Blades have won their last two games whilst the Canaries have not won in four and this week saw Neil Doncaster, Nowich Chief Executive, saying there would be ‘major surgery’ on the squad in the summer.

West Bromwich Albion v Leicester City

West Brom in fourth face Leicester who recently dropped into the relegation spaces after a 1 v 0 defeat at Southampton. Whilst the Baggies could go top if they win their games-in-hand they need to ensure they get points on the board in order to not lose touch with those around them. The Foxes need to remember how to score a goal having not scored in three games despite largely matching their opponents in each match and often having more chances on goal than those teams. Leicester are still without Captain Steve Clemence and midfielder Jamie Clapham.

Blackpool v Preston North End

The Lancaster derby sees two teams sitting only a point apart face one another in match that could ease either sides relegation fears. The Seasiders could move into the top half with a victory whilst the Lillywhites look to build on their wins against Charlton and Wolves. Preston have Liam Chilvers and Craig Beattie ruled out after recent injuries.

Photos from Barnsley FC and West Brom FC

With only eight games left ’til the end of the season, defender Richard Stearman has called on his team-mates and Leicester fans to stick together as the Foxes battle relegation. Stearman’s cry comes on the back of Leicester’s 1 v 0 defeat at Southampton which saw them drop into the relegation zone. So will City stay up?

Yes:

It’s still tight down there. Only six points separate Leicester from Blackpool in thirteenth.

Leicester still have to play most of the teams around them. The Foxes have matches at home against Colchester, Scunthorpe and Sheffield Wednesday.

They can’t get much worse. With Colchester all but relegated, Leicester are battling to avoid two rather than three relegation spots.

If it comes down to it, Leicester also have a vastly superior goal difference to most of the other teams around them.

No:

Leicester have not scored in five games. The goal in the 1 v 0 win against Cardiff was an own goal. Out of their fourteen games in 2008, City have only scored more than one goal on two occasions.

The Foxes are not even getting draws: since the beginning of February, Leicester have won two, drawn one and lost six.

Of the eight teams left for Leicester to play, the Foxes have only beaten two of them this season.

Picture taken from Official Leicester FC site.