Saturday's EFL tips: three sides who can sign off with a win on the final day

It's the final round of Championship games on Saturday, all of which kick-off at 12:30pm - here's our selection of the best bets.

Huddersfield Town vs Bristol City

With the chance of automatic promotion now gone and a top-four place guaranteed, Carlos Coberan, the Huddersfield manager, will have to decide whether to rest players ahead of the playoffs in their final game of the campaign.

The chances are, though, that with a big home crowd and a run that has seen them only drop two points since the last international break, Huddersfield will want to finish the regular season on a high and head into the playoffs with as much momentum as possible.

It hasn’t been a good season for Bristol City, who might have had aspirations for a playoff push of their own last August, but have spent too much time hovering in the lower reaches, thankful that the poor form of other clubs below them always made relegation seem a long shot.

At least they are finishing the season well and are on a five-match unbeaten run, including a 5-0 thrashing of Hull City in their final home game, to give them a sense of hope for next season despite looming financial concerns, the sort of which are faced by at least half of the clubs in the Championship.

Recommended bet: Huddersfield to win and over 2.5 goals @ 2.8

Luton Town vs Reading

A seven-goal demolition at the hands of Fulham leaves Luton in need of a result this weekend to ensure their place in the playoffs, and keep alive what would be possibly the greatest comeback in British football history.

After their glory days in the 1980s, Luton were in non-league as recently as 2014 and now stand on the cusp of promotion to the Premier League. They dropped out of the top flight in 1992 – the last season before the Premier League’s formation.

Still, they have a job to do and probably couldn’t have hoped for a better game to finish on than Reading at home. After a difficult season that saw them in freefall at one point, Paul Ince has steadied the ship and they are now safe from relegation, although their fans can probably not wait for the summer holidays to start and what is likely to be a large rebuild to begin.

Nathan Jones, the Luton manager, will not have taken the humiliation against Fulham well and will be after a reaction.

Recommended bet: Luton to win and over 2.5 goals @ 2.22 

Luton were hammered 7-0 by Fulham with Aleksandar Mitrovic on target - the Hatters need to bounce back to secure a playoff place

Stoke City vs Coventry City

It didn’t quite work out for Stoke and Coventry this year, but both could be playoff contenders next season.

Coventry were in contention for a top-six place right up until Easter, but as a club with one of the smaller budgets in the division, this has been a year of good progress, while Stoke have had a steady 12 months having had to readjust to life after trying to spend their way to a Premier League return following their 2018 relegation.

A win for Stoke would see them finish in the top half of the table (and above Coventry) but a comfortable end of season draw would probably leave them both content.

Recommended bet: draw @ 3.7

Swansea City vs Queens Park Rangers

It has been a traumatic period for QPR. In February, they were in third place and shooting for automatic promotion. Now they could be heading for a finishing position in the bottom half of the table and manager Mark Warburton has been told that his contract will not be renewed in the summer.

Swansea City, meanwhile, have been showing their best form when they have had nothing to play for. Last weekend they were crushed 5-1 by a rampaging Nottingham Forest side, but that ended an unbeaten run of ten matches.

Five of those matches ended in draws, though, and games on the final day of the season have had a habit of tapering out into stalemates. Some sense of pride in the QPR squad should see them put up a fight for the manager that has taken the club forward over the past three years.

Recommended bet: draw @ 3.9 

West Bromwich Albion vs Barnsley

Talking about disappointments, West Brom’s fade from sure-fire promotion contenders to mid-table obscurity has been dramatic, and the club faced up to a new reality this week, essentially warning fans that there would be big cuts to the playing budget after they failed to bounce back to the Premier League at the first attempt.

But this is a club that is lacking any sort of long-term plan right now. It is not even 18 months since Slaven Bilic was sacked and there have been three managers since – Sam Allardyce, Valerien Ismael and Steve Bruce. Who knows what the summer will bring?

Still, they would not swap places with Barnsley, who went from the playoffs in 2021 to relegation 12 months later. Having failed to find any sort of run of form, they looked doomed in January. They are going down with barely a whimper too, as they are destined to finish bottom having not won a match since mid-March.

It would be unlikely for Barnsley, who have lost their last four, to suddenly bounce back to life now, so West Brom can at least finish on a good note.

Recommended bet: West Bromwich Albion and over 2.5 goals @ 1.94

Recommended bets

Huddersfield/over 2.5 goals @ 2.8

Luton/over 2.5 goals @ 2.22

Stoke/Coventry draw @ 3.7

Swansea/QPR draw @ 3.9

WBA/over 2.5 goals @ 1.94