EFL Final Day Tips: Championship, League One and League Two set for dramatic climax

There isn’t a pyramid system like the English Football League and it will climax this weekend as teams across the country scramble for title honours, promotion, play-offs places or to survive the drop.

One champion is yet to be decided, plenty of play-off spots are up for grabs, and in League One there are still four different clubs that could mathematically end up relegated come Sunday afternoon.

Football expert Joe Crann takes you through the current state of play on what will be a very dramatic and pivotal weekend of action. 

Championship 

The Championship is often described as one of the most competitive divisions in the world - and for good reason. There are five teams still capable of making into the top six on the final day, so it’s yet another year that the English second tier will go right down to the wire. 

Coventry City (1.13) and Millwall (1.6) are currently in the driving seat to join Luton Town and Middlesbrough in the play-offs, but, with Blackburn Rovers set to travel to the New Den, they will be fired up to get the three points that could even see them leapfrog the Lions and grab sixth place (9.8). 

Alongside Rovers on 66 points are Sunderland (2.8) and West Bromwich Albion (6.8), who are away at Preston North End and Swansea City respectively, but of all of the teams vying for the top six only Coventry and the Black Cats can really consider themselves as being in form.

Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland are 1.95 to win their game in Preston and they will certainly believe that they have got a chance of holding up their end of the bargain against a team that has lost three of their last four.

Best bet: Sunderland to finish top six @ 2.8 

League One 

Much like the Championship, the top two positions in League One are already settled going into the final day. However, unlike that division, there is still an outright winner to be decided in League One.

Plymouth Argyle (1.57) or Ipswich Town (2.58) would be worthy champions as they both chase 100 points, but it is the latter with the tougher job on paper as they travel to Fleetwood Town while the Pilgrims visit Port Vale.

Elsewhere, Sheffield Wednesday – with a total of 93 points that would’ve seen them promoted practically any other season – and Barnsley already have third and fourth place wrapped up, while Bolton Wanderers are assured a top six finish but could be pipped to fifth place by Derby County.

Peterborough United are the only other club that could sneak into the top six in the third tier’s finale on Sunday, though they’d need the Rams to slip up at Hillsborough against the Owls and make sure they win their game against the Reds at Oakwell.

The Posh need the win more than Barnsley do, but Michael Duff’s side will want to go into the play-offs with a better performance having conceded seven goals in their last two games. 

Down at the other end it’s going to be a big day for Cambridge United, Morecambe and MK Dons, all of whom might need a victory to secure their status in the division. Oxford United are almost safe considering their three-point lead over the Shrimps and Dons as well as their vastly superior goal difference.

Cambridge, at home to already-relegated Forest Green, have the best chance of victory on paper, but they’d need Morecambe and MK to both drop points away at Exeter City and Burton Albion respectively to secure survival.

Best bet: Barnsley to beat Peterborough and Both teams to score @ 4.4

League Two 

Leyton Orient have their league title secured and Stevenage will be joining them in League One next season, but there are still two other places up for grabs before the 2022/23 campaign comes to an end.

Northampton Town hold their fate in their own hands as they go for the final automatic spot, but just a point away at Tranmere Rovers wouldn’t be enough if Stockport County beat the relegated Hartlepool United at home.

One of them will end up in the play-offs alongside three others, which are looking likely to be Carlisle United, Salford City and Bradford City. Mansfield Town (5.8 for promotion), are currently eighth, and would need to beat Colchester United while hoping that one of them lose in order to sneak in. And even then they’d still need the results to be enough for goal difference to swing in their favour.

Best bet: Carlisle United to beat Sutton United @ 2.2