Championship Play-off Race: Who Will Make the Top 6?

Burnley won themselves promotion back into the premier league after a 2-1 win against Middlesbrough and are edging ever closer to the title; the Clarets will be expected to wrap this up when they host QPR on Saturday.

Sheffield United are on the verge of automatic promotion and with Luton and Middlesbrough looking uncatchable there is still everything to play for when it comes to fifth and sixth places. The Boro are the favourites to be promoted via the play-offs at 7/5, while Luton have the odds of 3/1.

According to Betfair at the start of the season Burnley, Sheffield United and Middlesbrough were given the same odds for promotion 11/4 with the same implied probabilities of 26.7% Whereas Luton Town were given odds of 15/2 with an implied probability of 11.8% and Millwall were given odds off 9/1 and an implied probability of 10% at the start of the season.

Round 44 of the championship is this weekend and Millwall find themselves currently 5th and two points ahead of 7th place West Bromwich Albion.

The Lions ended their four-match goal draught after beating Preston 2-0 at home over the weekend, this was their first win in five games prior to their 1-0 home loss to Birmingham City on Tuesday night.

Gary Rowett's side’s predicted chances of making the play-offs is currently 67%, while their chances of being promoted to the Premier League via them is at 14%.

Millwall’s odds of making a top 6 finish is 8/13, according to SkyBet. At the start of the season, Betfair had the Lions at 9/1 with a 10% chance of getting into the top 6.

West Bromwich Albion have been in the Championship since the end of the 2020/21 season and the fans hope this year might be their year to get back up into the Premier League.

The Baggies sit in 7th, one point off the play-off places with a game in hand on the likes of Millwall in fifth. The Baggies beat Blackpool 2-0 in midweek, but, have a series of tough games in their way, as Carlos Corberan’s men will go up against Sunderland (h), Sheffield United (a), Norwich (h) and Swansea (a) in their final four fixtures.

West Brom have a predicted chance of 41% to make the play-offs, while also having an 8% chance of getting promoted. The odds of West Brom finishing in a top 6 place is 1/1 according to SkyBet.

With their bitter rivals Burnley securing automatic promotion and looking likely for the title, Blackburn will be hoping to join them in the Premier League at the end of the season.

The Ewood Park club are currently in 6th place and with a game in hand against the teams around them. However, Rovers are in a bad run of form at the moment only, with three draws and two losses in their last five games and looking likely to fall out of the play-off place.

Some of their big names are currently out of form such as Ben Brereton and Tyrhys Dolan, who have both struggled to score goals in their last five games.

Blackburn faced Coventry City at Ewood Park on Wednesday night and took a 39th-minute lead through Sam Gallagher, however, they dramatically conceded to the Sky Blues’ goalkeeper, Ben Wilson from a corner kick in the 95th minute of the game to draw 1-1.

Rovers will need the crowd behind them as their 6th place finish looks in doubt unless there is a drastic turnaround in form.

The Blue and Whites predicted play-off finish is at 28% which makes them the least likely out of any side currently in the play-off places, to finish in the top 6. Their odds are 15/8 to finish in the top 6 according to SkyBet.

Sunderland are probably one of the biggest clubs on the list and are looking to get back-to-back promotions to the Premier League where their fans and many neutrals believe they belong.

Sunderland have been in pretty fine form lately, unbeaten in their last five games. The Black Cats have won two of their last three games and will hope to carry on this fine form when facing West Brom at the weekend.

Sunderland's chances of getting into the top 6 are 11% and their chances to get to the Premier League are 2%. Tony Mowbray’s side’s odds of getting into the top 6 is 15/2 according to SkyBet.

Coventry City are hoping to make the play-offs and get promoted back to the Premier League for the first time since they were relegated from the top flight in 2000/2001.

The Sky Blues currently sit just outside of the play-off places following their dramatic 1-1 draw with Blackburn in midweek - they are just one point behind Rovers in eighth. The Sky Blues have been inconsistent as of late with one win, one defeat and three draws in their last five games.

According to FiveThirtyEight, they have a 29% chance of reaching the play-off places, one percent more than Blackburn, while Sky Bet have their odds of reaching the play-off at 7/4.

Mark Robins’ side’s chances are still slim, they will have to pick up a good amount of points in their next two matches against Reading and Birmingham as they face Middlesbrough on the final day.

Norwich City have been a Yoyo club, but this year it’s not looking likely they will be able to get promoted to the Premier League.

The Canaries are currently tenth in the league and are two points adrift of a play-off place. It’s been a frustrating run of form for Norwich, only winning once in their last seven games, with David Wagner’s side’s last win coming against Blackburn on 7th April.

Their next opponent is Swansea City at Carrow Road on Saturday who are 13th in the table and have a less than 1% chance of making the play-offs themselves. Norwich’s odds of getting into the top 6 is 4/1 and have a predicted chance of 18% to finish in the play-offs and a 4% chance of getting promoted back to the Premier League.

It has been a pretty steady season for Preston. The Lilywhites have not been spectacular when it comes to goalscoring, but, somehow have managed to be in contention for a play-off place.

Preston have got a difficult run in, as they have to face Blackburn, Sheffield United and Sunderland on the final day, who have all got something to play for. They will most likely have to live up to their nickname if they want any chance of a play-off finished.

The Invincibles are just two points outside of the play-off places with three games to go after their costly defeat to Swansea. Ryan Lowe’s men will know that three wins might just do it if they can leapfrog four of the six teams in contention that sit above them.

North End’s predicted play-off finish is at 5% making it one of the lowest out of the teams on this list. Their odds of reaching the play-offs are 18/1 according to SkyBet.

• Latest match predictions
• Football tips
• Football accumulator tips
• Football bet of the day