Championship excitement goes down to the final day

29 April 2013 13:27
There is lots to play for next Saturday.

Hull City must beat Cardiff City on Saturday to guarantee promotion to the Premier League. Hull's defeat at Barnsley on Saturday coupled with Watford's win at Leicester on Friday means that both Hull and Watford can still get 2nd place. Should Hull win, or Watford fail to win then Hull will be up. But if Watford beat Leeds at Vicarage Rd then Hull simply have to win against Cardiff.

That means there will be some atmosphere at the KC on Saturday with Cardiff fans celebrating the Championship while Hull fans will be biting their nails. Both games are being televised by Sky.

The final whistle is either going to be one huge double promotion party or there are going to be 20,000 very dejected Hull fans.

There are three teams chasing the final play off place Hull/Watford, Brighton and Palace have claimed the first three play off places while Bolton sit in 6th at the moment they could be caught by Forest or Leicester - who actually play each other. That could be winner takes all if Bolton slip up.

At the bottom it looks like a second consecutive relegation for Wolves. They need a miracle on the final day with a win and hope that both Barnsley and Peterborough lose with POSH shipping a few goals as well.

What a decline for Wanderers who were Premier League last season.

Bristol City are down already. Should Barnsley and Peterborough both win then either Shef Weds or Millwall (who have two to play) could drop through the trap door if they fail to win their games.

It's down to the wire for these teams while City fans will be sipping Pina Colada's at Hull knowing the Championship Trophy is already in the cabinet.

Millwal face Crystal Palace tomorrow (April 30th) knowing a win would guarantee survival.

Fixtures Saturday 4th May

Birmingham v Blackburn 12:45 Bolton v Blackpool 12:45 Brighton v Wolves 12:45 Burnley v Ipswich 12:45 Charlton v Bristol City 12:45 Crystal Palace v Peterborough 12:45 Derby v Millwall 12:45 Huddersfield v Barnsley 12:45 Hull v Cardiff 12:45 Nottm Forest v Leicester 12:45 Sheff Wed v Middlesbrough 12:45 Watford v Leeds Utd 12:45

 

League Table: 

HomeAwayOverall  #TeamPlWDLFAWDLFAWDLFAPtsGD 1 [P] Cardiff City 45 15 6 2 37 15 10 5 7 33 28 25 11 9 70 43 86 +27 2 Hull City 45 13 3 6 33 20 11 3 9 26 30 24 6 15 59 50 78 +9 3 Watford 45 11 5 6 40 25 12 3 8 44 31 23 8 14 84 56 77 +28 4 Brighton & Hove Albion 45 10 9 3 37 17 8 9 6 30 26 18 18 9 67 43 72 +24 5 Crystal Palace 44 12 8 2 49 29 6 6 10 21 31 18 14 12 70 60 68 +10 6 Bolton Wanderers 45 14 5 3 35 18 4 8 11 32 41 18 13 14 67 59 67 +8 7 Nottingham Forest 45 10 8 4 35 25 7 8 8 26 31 17 16 12 61 56 67 +5 8 Leicester City 45 13 4 6 46 23 5 7 10 22 23 18 11 16 68 46 65 +22 9 Charlton Athletic 45 7 6 9 28 33 9 8 6 33 25 16 14 15 61 58 62 +3 10 Birmingham City 45 7 8 7 28 33 8 7 8 34 35 15 15 15 62 68 60 -6 11 Ipswich Town 45 10 5 8 34 27 6 7 9 14 32 16 12 17 48 59 60 -11 12 Middlesbrough 45 13 3 7 38 27 5 2 15 23 41 18 5 22 61 68 59 -7 13 Derby County 45 11 7 4 42 22 4 6 13 22 40 15 13 17 64 62 58 +2 14 Burnley 45 8 8 6 29 22 7 5 11 31 38 15 13 17 60 60 58 0 15 Blackpool 45 8 9 6 32 24 6 7 9 28 37 14 16 15 60 61 58 -1 16 Leeds United 45 13 3 7 30 26 3 7 12 25 39 16 10 19 55 65 58 -10 17 Blackburn Rovers 45 10 6 7 27 23 4 9 9 27 38 14 15 16 54 61 57 -7 18 Huddersfield Town 45 7 9 6 26 24 8 3 12 25 47 15 12 18 51 71 57 -20 19 Sheffield Wednesday 45 8 4 10 28 35 7 6 10 23 26 15 10 20 51 61 55 -10 20 Millwall 44 8 3 11 24 30 7 7 8 27 31 15 10 19 51 61 55 -10 21 Peterborough United 45 8 5 10 34 39 7 4 11 30 33 15 9 21 64 72 54 -8 22 Barnsley 45 9 5 9 26 31 5 7 10 28 37 14 12 19 54 68 54 -14 23 Wolverhampton W'drs. 45 7 7 9 30 35 7 2 13 25 32 14 9 22 55 67 51 -12 24 [R] Bristol City 45 8 4 11 40 44 3 4 15 18 36 11 8 26 58 80 41 -22

 

 

Source: Cardiff City Online

Source: FOOTYMAD