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Championship Betting: Who needs to do what to stay up?

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It's one from five for the drop from The Championship to Division One this weekend so all to play for. Here are the different scenarios as to what may happen as seen through the eyes of Mandeep...

With all this week's media attention focused on the first-ever all English Champions League final and the race for the Premiership, you might forget about what is arguably the most important football occurring this weekend. It's the final day of the most competitive league in England and perhaps even Europe. Whilst some fans dream of Moscow, spare a thought for those fans staring into the abyss. Any one of five teams could get relegated from the Championship this weekend (Colchester and Scunthorpe are already down), but rightly the main focus is on the two most likely teams to get relegated - Leicester City and Southampton. So what are the possible scenarios? Let's take a closer look ...

The first thing to note is that four of the five teams are relative 'big' teams. Not so long ago were Leicester, Southampton, Coventry and even Sheffield Wednesday part of the Premiership. The notion that these teams are "too good to go down" is a fallacy - just ask supporters of Leeds United and Nottingham Forest. Although the clubs may be used to a relegation battle, the prospect of League One is a new and frightening thought.

Fixtures (Sunday 14:00)

Blackpool v Watford
Charlton v Coventry
Sheffield Wed v Norwich
Southampton v Sheffield United
Stoke v Leicester

Tables

Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD PTS

18 Blackpool 45 8 10 4 34 26 4 7 12 24 37 -5 53
19 Coventry 45 8 8 7 25 26 6 3 13 26 34 -9 53
20 Sheff Wed 45 8 5 9 25 24 5 8 10 25 30 -4 52
21 Leicester 45 7 7 9 23 19 5 8 9 19 26 -3 51
22 Southampton 45 8 5 9 23 25 4 10 9 30 45 -17 51

Form Table

Team P W D L Points

Coventry City 6 2 2 2 8
Sheffield Wednesday 6 1 4 1 7
Leicester City 6 2 1 3 7
Southampton FC 6 1 3 2 6
Blackpool FC 6 1 2 3 5

Form/News

Leicester's form has been up and down all season, and they have not strung together two wins all season. With the numerous changes in manager, the team have never really got going. On paper they look capable of promotion, but their inconsistency has been their Achilles heel. The injury to Patrick Kisnorbo last weekend is a huge loss, as not only is he vital to their defensive strength, he also chips in with some useful goals.

Southampton have similarly been up and down. The form table shows there is minimal difference between them. Chris Lucketti is available to play against Sheff Utd (he's a Sheff Utd player on load to Southampton).

Scenarios

Leicester must at least match the result of Southampton in order to stay up. Should the Saints win and Leicester draw, then Sheff Wed must lose by two goals or more for Leicester to stay up.

Southampton simply need to have a better result than Leicester. However they could also stay up should other results go their way (see the above Championship table).

Odds

At the time of writing, Leicester and Southampton are joint favourites for the drop (2.34 to back - http://sports.betfair.com/Index.do?mi=20437856&ex=1&origin=MRL).

Conclusion

Stoke will be going for promotion and the Championship title, and Sheffield United still have a chance of reaching the play-offs. Despite their recent form (which has been excellent), Sheff Utd's chances of the play-offs may dwindle as other matches develop. This together with the fact they may be missing important players like Ehiogu and Beattie leads me to believe Southampton will at least get a point. A reasonable home record together with a fervent crowd may mean they may well get more!

Leicester's away form is poor, and facing Stoke is almost as difficult as it gets. However anyone can beat anyone in this division, but the signs are gloomy. Losing Kisnorbo was a big part of their defeat last weekend, and his absence this weekend may prove crucial.

Considering their respective home and away forms, the teams they are facing and team news, I fear Leicester will be the team facing the humiliation of relegation. However as a Leicester fan, I'll be praying I'm wrong. C'mon City !!!