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EFL Championship resumption: key talking points

Writer's picture: Andrew ZarbAndrew Zarb

Can Brentford make a late surge for automatic promotion, or perhaps win promotion via the play-offs?

The kick-off times for the first three matchdays of EFL Championship fixtures were today confirmed as Sky Sports announced their TV selections. It is clear that a resumption of the EFL Championship, which was halted in mid-March due to the Coronavirus pandemic, is fast approaching and here are some key talking points to look out for once the action resumes. Promotion race The reward for promotion to the Premier League from the EFL Championship is said to be worth roughly £170m, a staggering amount - and the race for promotion is always one to look out for, year after year. As a reminder and for those who may not be so familiar with the Championship, the top two sides at the end of the season are automatically promoted to the Premier League - whilst those teams who finish from 3rd to 6th battle it out in the play-offs for the final promotion spot. After the late-season collapse last year which culminated in a play-off semi-final defeat against Derby County, it is fair to say that Leeds United have bounced back well and currently top the standings with 9 games remaining, whilst West Bromwich Albion lie in second, a point behind Leeds - and it would be reasonable to argue that both Leeds United and West Bromwich Albion have been the two most consistent teams in the division this season, despite both having a dip in form between Christmas and the end of January. Fulham, in third place, lie six points off an automatic promotion place, and some may argue that the London side have underachieved with such a strong squad at their disposal. However, with the fact that now all matches will be played behind closed doors, and players will not be optimally up to match fitness - it is all to play for in the race for promotion and things could well boil down to who hits the ground running most quickly.

One would say that the first two matchdays could prove extremely pivotal in determining the outcome of the race for promotion in 2019/20. The Championship action resumes with Fulham in third hosting fourth-placed Brentford, on a weekend in which league leaders Leeds United travel to Cardiff City whilst second-placed West Bromwich Albion host Birmingham City. On the following matchday, Fulham travel to league leaders Leeds United, whilst second-placed West Bromwich Albion travel to Brentford. In the event that the top two sides win both their games, one could say that the promotion race would be over and that Leeds and West Brom would just end up strolling towards Premier League promotion - they definitely would build up a healthy lead to the rest of the chasing pack with just seven games remaining (although one can never say that it would be over until it is mathematically so). On the other hand, if Fulham win both of their games, then at least they would close the gap on the automatic promotion places which would increase the pressure on Leeds and West Brom. As for key players to look out for in the race for promotion, Brentford's attacking trio of Said Benrahma, Bryan Mbeumo and Ollie Watkins could be a huge asset for the West London side, and Brentford would be extra determined to achieve promotion to the Premier League in order to be able to keep their trio, as otherwise they would likely need to sell at least one of them and finding a replacement would be difficult. One wonders where Fulham would be without the goals of Serbian striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, and him being fit could well determine Fulham's fate for the remainder of the season. Kalvin Phillips and Ben White, the latter on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion, have been key players in Leeds United's promotion push, whilst the return of Grady Diangana could hand West Bromwich Albion a sizeable boost in their bid to return to the Premier League.


Irrespective of what happens on these two matchdays, the pressure is undoubtedly on Fulham to win both their first two games and hit the ground running early on in order to at least keep up the pressure on the top two. On the other hand, two wins for the top two sides in their first two games would significantly strengthen their chances of automatic promotion and possibly kill off the chasing pack. Could this be the year in which Leeds finally end their exile from the Premier League, having been relegated from the top flight back in 2004?

The play-off chase One aspect that makes the Championship an entertaining (if somewhat erratic) division is the fact that sixth place offers sides a shot at promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs, and the battle to reach that position tends to be extremely dramatic. As it stands, the following four sides would make it into the play-offs: Fulham, Brentford, Nottingham Forest and Preston North End. However, it is important to point out that a mere six points separate Preston North End in that final promotion play-off spot and Queens Park Rangers in 13th place. It is fair to say that Nottingham Forest, Preston North End and Bristol City were in poor form until the league was suspended due to the pandemic - though question marks over who would be consistent enough to overhaul either Nottingham Forest or Preston North End remain. One side who could be consistent enough to make a late dash into the play-offs is Millwall, who have benefited hugely from the appointment of Gary Rowett. Also, Derby County have lost only 3 games during 2020 and would be second in the table if only results from 2020 counted, so it would not be unwise to put them down as potential candidates for a late dash towards the play-offs. Queens Park Rangers have veered from brilliant to awful and are arguably too inconsistent to be able to make a late dash into the play-offs, however, they still cannot be ruled out from doing so.

The play-off race is always one that is interesting as their tends to be one team who tends to make a late dash towards the play-offs, and given the circumstances this year, nobody can rule out such a scenario, particularly if one of the teams between 7th and 13th place hit the ground running immediately.

Relegation battle As much as every club aims to try get out of the Championship by achieving promotion to the Premier League, clubs need to ensure that they avoid finishing in the bottom three in order not to drop down to the third tier, League 1. Charlton Athletic, Luton Town and Barnsley (all of whom were promoted to the Championship last season) currently lie in the relegation zone. However, since the turn of the year it is fair to say that Hull City have been in freefall, particularly having sold their two key players in Jarrod Bowen and Kamil Grosicki, and one would not rule them out from potentially falling into the relegation places - after all they lie a mere two points ahead of third-bottom Charlton Athletic, and Hull play Charlton on the first matchday of the resumption in an absolutely pivotal clash. However, it is interesting to note that Charlton Athletic's key striker and arguably most important player, Lyle Taylor, has opted not to sign a short contract extension until the end of the season for fear of getting injured and scuppering a move to another club, which will undoubtedly be a huge blow for Charlton Athletic in their bid to survive. Meanwhile, things look less optimistic for Luton Town (who have re-appointed Nathan Jones as their manager during the lockdown period) and Barnsley - though neither club can be discarded just yet from making a late surge up the table. It is fair to say that the relegation battle (just like the race for promotion) may well be impacted by who hits the ground running early on. Also, one needs to keep out an eye out on the fact that, Sheffield Wednesday, who have been badly off form in 2020, have charges brought against them by the EFL in relation to their stadium being sold to the owner, which could lead to a hefty points deduction of up to 21 points which would drag them into the relegation zone (a deduction of 10 points or more would be sufficient for Sheffield Wednesday to fall into the relegation zone), therefore their legal battle with the EFL will be something to keep an eye out on as it could well impact the relegation battle. After 3 months without football, the Championship promises to produce a dramatic conclusion to the season.

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