EFL Permutations This Weekend

Johnny Reynolds

Championship

Fulham eased past Preston to seal their Premier League return as Aleksandar Mitrovic's double took his season's tally to 40 goals, after the Serbian striker netted twice in the first half.

The first of the 92 clubs to seal promotion, Fulham, faces second-placed Bournemouth this weekend, and though Bournemouth can’t confirm their promotion this weekend it seems that it will be only a matter of time for the Cherries, as they look to bounce back to the Premier League, after two seasons in the second tier. If Huddersfield were to defeat Barnsley they would also ensure themselves a play-off spot as they seek promotion back to the Premier League.

At the other end of the Championship, Derby County have already been relegated and it looks almost certain that Barnsley and Peterborough will join them. Derby were relegated from the Championship on Monday after suffering a dramatic late defeat at Queens Park Rangers. Luke Amos' 88th-minute winner for QPR, coupled with Reading's extraordinary 4-4 draw against Swansea, consigned Wayne Rooney's Rams to League One.

The fate of Peterborough and Barnsley is out of their hands, and a victory for Reading at Hull City will see the two teams return to the third-tier of English football, regardless of their own results. Even if Reading were not able to win, Barnsley would have to win away at third-place Huddersfield., and defeat for either team if Reading fails to win would also confirm their relegation.

ChampionshipChampionship
PosClubPWDLGDPTS
1Position Icon
Fulham badgeFulham
4627910+6390
2Position Icon
Bournemouth badgeBournemouth
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3Position Icon
Huddersfield badgeHuddersfield
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4Position Icon
Nottm Forest badgeNottm Forest
46231112+3380
5Position Icon
Sheff Utd badgeSheff Utd
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6Position Icon
Luton badgeLuton
46211213+875
7Position Icon
Middlesbrough badgeMiddlesbrough
46201016+970
8Position Icon
Blackburn badgeBlackburn
46191215+969
9Position Icon
Millwall badgeMillwall
46181513+869
10Position Icon
West Bromwich badgeWest Bromwich
46181315+767
11Position Icon
QPR badgeQPR
4619918+166
12Position Icon
Coventry badgeCoventry
46171316+164
13Position Icon
Preston badgePreston
46161614-464
14Position Icon
Stoke badgeStoke
46171118+562
15Position Icon
Swansea badgeSwansea
46161317-1061
16Position Icon
Blackpool badgeBlackpool
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17Position Icon
Bristol City badgeBristol City
46151021-1555
18Position Icon
Cardiff badgeCardiff
4615823-1853
19Position Icon
Hull badgeHull
4614923-1351
20Position Icon
Birmingham badgeBirmingham
46111421-2547
21Position Icon
Reading badgeReading
4613825-3341
22Position Icon
Peterborough badgePeterborough
4691027-4437
23Position Icon
Derby badgeDerby
46141319-834
24Position Icon
Barnsley badgeBarnsley
4661228-4030

League One

The race for promotion in League One has arguably been the most exciting area of the Football League this year.

Wigan Athletic can confirm their promotion to the second tier this weekend, and if they defeat Plymouth and Rotherham lose to Oxford United, Wigan can be crowned champions.

Regardless of other results, a win for the Latics would guarantee their return to the Championship. While Rotherham will not mathematically get promoted on Saturday, a win against Oxford combined with their already superior +7 goal difference would give the Millers a huge advantage over MK Dons, who are level on 83 points.

MK Dons host Morecambe on Saturday and could go second if Rotherham fails to win, though they have played a game more than the Yorkshire club.

At the bottom of League One, while Doncaster Rovers are not mathematically relegated, Gillingham have a substantial goal difference lead, which means the Dons will likely play in League 2 next season.

The 21st vs 22nd match between Fleetwood Town and AFC Wimbledon is one of the most important games of the weekend. If Fleetwood win, they will relegate their opponents, however, if Wimbledon win they may be able to drag Fleetwood back into the relegation scrap, though Fleetwood have a better goal difference and a game in hand over their relegation rivals.

Bottom placed Crew Alexandra have already been relegated, and a distraught David Artell, apologised to fans after his Crewe side were beaten 2-0 at fellow strugglers Doncaster United, the result which confirmed their demise to League Two.

League 1League 1
PosClubPWDLGDPTS
1Position Icon
Wigan badgeWigan
4627118+3892
2Position Icon
Rotherham badgeRotherham
4627910+3790
3Position Icon
MK Dons badgeMK Dons
4626119+3489
4Position Icon
Sheff Wed badgeSheff Wed
4624139+2885
5Position Icon
Sunderland badgeSunderland
46241210+2684
6Position Icon
Wycombe badgeWycombe
4623149+2483
7Position Icon
Plymouth badgePlymouth
46231112+2080
8Position Icon
Oxford badgeOxford
46221014+2376
9Position Icon
Bolton badgeBolton
46211015+1773
10Position Icon
Portsmouth badgePortsmouth
46201313+1773
11Position Icon
Ipswich badgeIpswich
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12Position Icon
Accrington badgeAccrington
46171019-1961
13Position Icon
Charlton badgeCharlton
4617821-459
14Position Icon
Cambridge Utd badgeCambridge Utd
46151318-1858
15Position Icon
Cheltenham badgeCheltenham
46131716-1456
16Position Icon
Burton Albion badgeBurton Albion
46141121-1653
17Position Icon
Lincoln badgeLincoln
46141022-852
18Position Icon
Shrewsbury badgeShrewsbury
46121420-450
19Position Icon
Morecambe badgeMorecambe
46101224-3142
20Position Icon
Fleetwood badgeFleetwood
4681622-2040
21Position Icon
Gillingham badgeGillingham
4681622-3440
22Position Icon
Doncaster badgeDoncaster
4610828-4538
23Position Icon
Wimbledon badgeWimbledon
4661921-2637
24Position Icon
Crewe badgeCrewe
467831-4629

League Two

Forest Green Rovers look destined for promotion this weekend, and they’ll confirm their promotion with a singular point from any of their remaining four fixtures, they face a tough game away to inform Bristol Rovers on saturday.

If for whatever reason Forest Green are unable to win any of their remaining fixtures, they still look at odds on favourites to go up as they have a five-point lead on second-placed Exeter City, and a further two-point lead on third-placed Port Vale.

Forest Green can be promoted this weekend, if Port Vale loses, or if Northampton and or Sutton fail to win. It’s just a matter of time now for Rob Edwards’ team.

Exeter will also be promoted if they win at home to Rochdale and other results go their way. No play-off places can be confirmed this weekend due to Mansfield’s game in hand. As it stands, every club down to Crawley Town in 12th can still mathematically make the play-offs.

At the other end of the table, Scunthorpe United have already been relegated and will finish bottom, and Oldham Athletic could join them this weekend. Oldham faces Salford at home this weekend, in a Greater Manchester Derby. If they lose to Salford and Stevenage beat Mansfield Town away, Oldham will be relegated from the Football League. Stevenage are four points clear of the drop, and have a game in hand over the bottom two clubs, they face Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.

League 2League 2
PosClubPWDLGDPTS
1Position Icon
Forest Green badgeForest Green
4623158+3184
2Position Icon
Exeter badgeExeter
4623158+2484
3Position Icon
Bristol Rovers badgeBristol Rovers
46231112+2280
4Position Icon
Northampton badgeNorthampton
46231112+2280
5Position Icon
Port Vale badgePort Vale
46221212+2178
6Position Icon
Swindon badgeSwindon
46221113+2377
7Position Icon
Mansfield badgeMansfield
46221113+1577
8Position Icon
Sutton Utd badgeSutton Utd
46221014+1676
9Position Icon
Tranmere badgeTranmere
46211213+1375
10Position Icon
Salford badgeSalford
46191314+1470
11Position Icon
Newport badgeNewport
46191215+969
12Position Icon
Crawley badgeCrawley
46171019-1061
13Position Icon
L Orient badgeL Orient
46141616+1558
14Position Icon
Bradford badgeBradford
46141616-258
15Position Icon
Colchester badgeColchester
46141319-1255
16Position Icon
Walsall badgeWalsall
46141220-1354
17Position Icon
Hartlepool badgeHartlepool
46141220-2054
18Position Icon
Rochdale badgeRochdale
46121717-853
19Position Icon
Harrogate badgeHarrogate
46141121-1153
20Position Icon
Carlisle badgeCarlisle
46141121-2353
21Position Icon
Stevenage badgeStevenage
46111421-2347
22Position Icon
Barrow badgeBarrow
46101422-1344
23Position Icon
Oldham badgeOldham
4691126-2938
24Position Icon
Scunthorpe badgeScunthorpe
4641428-6126