The final month of the Sky Bet EFL season has begun.
There are no teams yet promoted or exiled from Championship, League 1, or League 2, but the races are heated at both ends of each table.
Seven games across three divisions will be live on Sky Sports+ this Saturday at 12:30pm, with almost every aspect still involved in promotional races, playoff chases or relegation battles…
What is the live performance on Sky Sports+ on Saturdays?
(All kickoff at 12:30pm)
CH: Coventry vs Burnley, Luton vs Leeds (also available in SSF), West Brom vs Sunderland 1: Reading vs Wycombe, wrexham vs Burtonl2: Cheltenham vs Doncaster, Walsall vs Portvale
Championship
Coventry vs Burnley
Will Coventry be closer to securing a playoff spot?
Since the turn of this year, Coventry has been a winning team. Between January 18th and March 15th, they won 10 of their 12 championship games, becoming a playoff contender in form from mid-table mediocre. Frank Lampard had his magic worked after replacing Mark Robbins.
Still, no top 6 locations have been confirmed. It looks like two teams will get there, Sky Blues, West Brom, Middlesbrough and Bristol City. Channeling recent victory forms is essential for break-in.
Burnley has at least secured a playoff spot – can they stay on the hunt more?
Sheffield United, Leeds and Burnley all have at least secured a place in the Championship playoffs. Two of them will automatically rise, but one will not rise. Improved Leeds results will mean Claret will move to the top two this Saturday. But it will see the Blade’s defeat and their own victory, and they will finish the top of the mountains for the weekend.
We don’t see if that’s happening yet, but considering they’re undefeated in 26 games, it’s hard to bet on them – and of course, to match the longest running championship record without defeat set by reading in 2005/06 (33).
Dan Long
Luton vs Leeds
Can Luton extend his undefeated run and raise his survival hopes?
It took nine games for Matt Bloomfield to win his first game as Luton boss. As a result, the Hatters slipped into bottom 3 in mid-January and were unable to return.
Luckily, the March was far more gentle to them. Of the 15 points offered, they picked up 10 and held three clean sheets along the way. In other words, their hopes to avoid a second straight relegation are still very lively kicking. The gap with safety is currently 3 points.
Can ston lease get back on track?
Luton did well in March, but Leeds will not look back on it fondly. They were pleasantly won against Millwall on March 12, but lost to Portsmouth, and held three more times.
The most detrimental of these draws took place last weekend at Elland Road, where Zan Vipotnik’s 96th minute equalizer scored Swansea points. That is, Sheffield United retained the top spot and two-point advantage after winning Coventry last Friday. It’s now out of their hands, but that could still all change in the last few weeks.
Dan Long
Saturday, April 5th, 11:00am at 12:30am kickoff
West Brom vs Sunderland
Can West Brom strengthen the playoff push?
Last weekend, West Brom was disappointed. The final Gasp winner meant that Baggies dropped three key points to fellow playoff contender Norwich. They bravely defended the entire six pointer, but fell to the final hurdle. Tony Mowbray’s side was unbeaten with six. Now, after this defeat, they are stepping on the water.
The 61-year-old has kept his buggies in the top six since replacing Carlos Corberan, but faces serious pressure from Middlesbrough and Bristol. Mowbray’s men must stave off the threats around them by scoring three points from his front side.
Can Sunderland raise the pressure?
Sunderland looked back at the best last Saturday after an international break in timing. Kuroneko defeated Millwall 1-0 at Hikari Stadium, confirming all of her playoff positions.
Regis Le Bliss has transformed the youngest team in the championship into a promotional contender – they finished 16th last season, but they are now fourth. A victory could reduce the nine-point gap between yourself and second place. Like the remaining seven fixtures, this is a must-see if you want a delayed sniff for automatic promotions.
Break key
League One
Reading vs wycombe
Can reading regain bounce with playoff push?
It is very noteworthy that the teams on the pitch are doing well amidst all the field confusion for reading. Noel Hunt took over from Reuben Sels during the season and everything was smooth.
They are still on the playoff tracking, even if they were slapped at Blackpool mid-week. But they start the weekend just one point behind Bolton for the sixth time, and are at the top of the line on the sides who are still hoping to take the place.
Will Wycombe put pressure on Wrexham?
On Tuesday night, it was a missed opportunity for Wycombe. It was a chance to fill the three-point gap as Wrexham dropped a point in Cambridge. However, they dominated against Shrewsbury, the bottom club of the league, but they couldn’t find a breakthrough.
It wasn’t completely smooth as Mike Dodds came to Matt Bloomfield in the dugout, but this is a must-see if they keep it in their own hands and eat up the threat of Charlton and Stockport from underneath.
Simeon Gholam
Wrexham vs Burton
Can Wrexham stay in the second spot?
Wrexham would have sighed at ease in the middle of the week. The failure to beat Cambridge in 23rd place was that only Wycombe was in line with the three-point gap remaining between the second and third.
The Wycombe match will appear in Huddersfield next Tuesday night, so the promotional photos will be much clearer in a few days. What Wrexham can do is keep winning and hope that the chaser will slip. But now there are six games standing between the Welsh club and history. Because they aim to go back in succession in league history.
Can Burton climb from the bottom four?
Burton has emerged as the side most likely to climb from the well-established bottom 4 in League One. They were within three points of safety as they won a big comeback to Leighton Orient mid-week.
They also got a match at Bristol Rovers on the 20th and have a better goal difference. Given that they won two of their first 25 games of the season, it has been an incredible recovery since Gary Bowyer took charge in December. They were 11 points of safety drift in one stage, and have not come out of the bottom fourth since mid-September. With victory here they were able to go above the line.
Simeon Gholam
League 2
Cheltenham vs Doncaster
Will Cheltenham end their three-game losing streak?
Cheltenham hopes to bounce back after a disastrous defeat last weekend. The Robbins were comfortable defeated by Morecambe’s side, who was in a relegation spot throughout the season.
The town of Michael Flynn plays like a side that has nothing for nothing. Sitting in 15th place, promotion to League One or relegation to the National League is out of the question. Flynn must reinvigorate his side and look for positive outcomes if they turn their fortunes around.
Break key
Will Doncaster sneak back into the top three?
Doncaster remained disappointed after 6 pointers on Tuesday. Rovers admitted the goal at the dying stage and drew 2-2 with fellow promotion chaser Walsall.
Grant McCann’s side has to dust themselves off and bounce back to bridge the gap into the top three. McCann hopes for his return to Wadon Road, who played over 200 games for Cheltenham – his side will bring in three points. If Tani loses to Walsall, they can move levels with points in Portvale and third place.
Break key
Walsall vs Portvale
Will Walsall wait for victory?
Walsall has been the league leader since early December, boasting a 14-point lead, following in ninth place at that point after beating MK Don 4-2 on January 18th. Promotion seemed inevitable.
But their form has been drastically soaked ever since. They only scored two of their final 14, bringing just two points to lead at the summit. If Portvale wins for Bescott, Sadler will fall for the first time in four months. But if they win, they hope that their title will remain in their hands.
Can Portvale rekindle title hopes?
Before Walsall took over, Portvale led the way throughout October and November. They too lost their spot at the top as they struggled with a recession in form throughout the important celebration period.
However, since New Year’s Day, they have only lost two of their 17 league games, including four wins in the past five. Meanwhile, they only admitted once. They last time they defeated the promising Bradford of their fellow titles and sent a strong message if they did the same to Sadler.
Dan Long
Listen to the Sky Sports Essential EFL podcast
Sky Sports brings you the Essential EFL podcast channel featuring the best content from Championship, League 1 and League 2.
Among the latest products…
EFL Interview: It features chats with predictions from Carl Piergianni of Stevenage, Antoni Sarcevic of Bradford and Matty Stevenschampionship of AFC Wimbledon.
Don’t miss the episode…
SpreakerThis content is provided by Spreaker, who may use cookies and other technologies. You must have permission to use cookies to view this content. You can use the buttons below to modify your preferences and enable cookies in your spray car or allow those cookies only once. You can change your settings at any time using the privacy options. Unfortunately, we were unable to confirm whether we agreed to Spreekir cookies. To view this content, use the buttons below to allow spreaker cookies only for this session. Enable cookies and allow cookies once
Currently, Sports Membership Q&A
All questions answered about how to get EFL actions directly to your device without a Sky Sports subscription…
Saturday soccer EFL goal zone
We will catch all the goals from the 12:30pm kickoff on Sky Sports News and secure a dedicated portion of the studio to showcase all the balls that hit the back of the net at a soccer live Saturday.
