The Championship Returns: The Promotion Race, Play-off Picture, Relegation Battle & Games to Look Forward to
By Ali Rampling
The Championship is poised to return on 20 June following a three month absence as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
There are still nine games remaining, but in what is a notoriously unpredictable, topsy-turvy division, that leaves more than enough time for a few more twists and turns.
Just a point separates the top two, there are an assortment of sides jostling for a play-off spot, things are pretty congested towards the bottom, and there are only really three teams with nothing to play for in mid-table. But a potential points deduction could change all of that...
Let's take a look at how things currently stand, the big games to look forward to, and how things could finish up in the second tier.
The Promotion Race
Leeds and West Brom have put a bit of daylight between themselves and the chasing pack in the promotion places. Marcelo Bielsa's side top the table on 71 points, with West Brom a further point behind. The Baggies are six points clear of third place Fulham.
The maximum points haul Fulham can manage now is 91 points, meaning Leeds require seven wins from their remaining nine matches to guarantee them a return to the top flight for the first time in 16 years.
West Brom would need seven wins and a draw to seal their Premier League return. However, both of these scenarios are reliant on Fulham putting together a nine game winning run - although Aston Villa managed this last year, such streaks are not an annual occurrence in the Championship.
Fulham's automatic promotions hopes are not entirely out of their hands; excitingly, Scott Parker's side still have to play both Leeds and West Brom.
Should Leeds, West Brom or Fulham suffer an end of season stutter, both Brentford and Nottingham Forest sit 10 points behind second and are still in with an outside shot of automatic promotion - and both sides still have a fixture against Fulham to still be fulfilled.
The Play-off Scramble
The play-off picture is delicately poised, with QPR down in 13th just six points off Preston in the final top six spot.
Fulham, Brentford and Nottingham Forest occupy the first three play-off places and have a slight buffer between themselves and the chasing pack; Fulham are nine points clear of seventh, while Forest and Brentford both have a five point gap.
However, just a single point separates Preston from seventh place Bristol City, while Millwall, Cardiff, Blackburn, Swansea, Derby and QPR could all find themselves in the top six should a couple of results fall in their favour.
Even better, all the sides in contention have at least two fixtures still to come against fellow playoff rivals.
Preston and Bristol City - who are currently just one point apart - were due to meet on the last day of the season. Should the fixture list simply be pushed back and not reshuffled, it has the potential to be a fascinating final day show down.
Alex Neil's side still have Brentford, Cardiff and Nottingham Forest to play, while Bristol City also have fixtures against Forest and Cardiff on the horizon.
With so many opportunities for sides to take points off each other, and so many teams in contention, the playoff race is poised to go right down to the wire
The Battle at the Bottom
Barnsley sit rock bottom of the Championship with seven points between themselves and safety. Luton Town sit a point above them - but have sacked manager Graeme Jones and re-hired former boss Nathan Jones (the man who guided them to promotion from League Two) during lockdown.
Charlton are on 39 points in the final relegation spot - the first time they have been in the bottom three all season - and sit two points from safety.
Hull - wounded by the losses of Kamil Grosicki and Jared Bowen in January - Wigan and Middlesbrough are all on 41 points, two points clear of the relegation zone, while Huddersfield and Stoke are a further point ahead.
Derby and Sheffield Wednesday could both find themselves dragged into a relegation dog fight should their points deductions for breaches of spending rules be enforced - which could be anything between a nine and 15 point penalty.
With nine games remaining, there is plenty of time for some movement. Charlton face relegation six-pointers against both Wigan and Hull before the season is out, while Luton still have Hull and Huddersfield to play.
Stoke have crunch games against Wigan, Barnsley and Middlesbrough in the pipeline, while Boro still have to play Hull.